Jewels in the Juniper (Lovely Lethal Gardens Book 10)

by Dale Mayer

  He just sent back a typical LOL answer.

  She didn’t know if that meant he would send out a message or not. She was likely to get a complete mix of blocks that way too, which may or may not work. She wasn’t sure just how expensive concrete was. But she had been researching pouring individual blocks, thinking maybe that was an answer too. By the time she was done with everything in her garden for the day, with the lawn mower and her other tools cleaned up and put away, she felt tired again. She headed back inside, sat down with her notes, but the sister issue was really bugging her. She needed her name or something else to lead to the sister, but Doreen hadn’t caught sight of anything yet.

  Finally, out of desperation after spending an hour on research with no results, she sent Nan a text, asking if she would ask Mangus if he knew if Abelman had a sister.

  And the response came back as Will do. But nothing else.

  Groaning, Doreen got up, put on some coffee, and, although it was only four o’clock, she couldn’t wait for food. She pulled out the last of the salmon pasta dish and warmed it up in the microwave.

  When she sat outside on her little deck, she was closer to getting rid of it and having the new one built. She couldn’t stop smiling. Until she realized they would also have a problem getting rid of the old deck materials too. She frowned at that, thinking that, after all this time, she might still end up making a dump trip.

  She knew it was silly, but she also hoped it was possible to put electric lights out on the deck. Maybe she could have some lights for her laptop, so she could sit outside to work. She really didn’t like the idea of running cords. She could keep her laptop fully charged and then use it outside, but she couldn’t use her laptop in the sunlight and still see the screen. She wasn’t sure what she was even looking for ultimately in her new deck, but so many beautiful decks were online, and the more she saw, the more she wanted. And that was a problem because, once you wanted a little bit, you could get greedy and want a lot more.

  She had prided herself on avoiding a dump run so far, but this might just end up being the one time she would have to. And then she frowned and wondered if the old bed from the upstairs guest bedroom could go too. It would be great to send it off to some antique place, but she highly doubted anybody would want it. But then she remembered the heritage site she had handed off all the old nightclothes to.

  She would have to remember to contact them and see if they were interested. In order to do that, she’d have to take pictures. It was a lovely bed, just not anything she wanted in her spare bedroom. She finished her dinner and looked sadly at her empty plate.

  Well, I could warm up some more, she thought, but it would have to be straight noodles. Enough of those were left for another meal, and she didn’t want to eat her dinner for tomorrow night a day early, leaving her with sandwiches again.

  She cleaned her plate in the sink, snagged an apple, and walked upstairs to the spare room, her animals in tow. She took pictures of the bed from all angles, including one showing the maker’s mark. Too bad Scott hadn’t wanted it. She frowned. She had never shown it to Scott. She stood here, staring at it, and then thought she might as well send the photos to him.

  With that, she went back downstairs, pulled up a new email, and sent a message to Scott. She put Antique Bed and Frame in the subject line and then attached the pictures from her phone. Scott, I don’t think I ever showed this to you. Not sure how it was forgotten. I assumed it had no value, so feel free to tell me that it doesn’t, and I’ll be happy to move it to the dump.

  She added a happy face emoji, signed it, and sent it off. With that done, she got up and did the dishes. She was restless though. And without a walk to Penny’s and Steve’s or Crystal’s houses these days, Doreen felt a little at odds. But she wanted to go for a walk today, as she hadn’t had a chance to get out and stretch her legs.

  Chapter 23

  Tuesday Late Afternoon …

  Doreen cut herself a big wedge of cheese and snagged a second apple. She was being greedy perhaps, but she had burned up enough calories from her gardening work earlier today. Calling the animals to her, she headed out the front door and found herself walking right back down toward Heidi and Aretha’s house. It was foolish of Doreen to go in that direction, but the gardens were beautiful, and, if she could get some more plants, then she would. But, of course, she was walking, so there wouldn’t be much she could take with her.

  As she sauntered down the street, she passed the big old house and smiled. It was such a beautiful, elegant home. She saw no sign of anybody outside working, but then it was evening. She walked past more houses, seeing beautiful gardens everywhere she went. It would be lovely to live in this corner of the world. There was just something timeless about it.

  But nobody was out and about, no one to even say hello to. She turned around and headed toward home, the animals happy to go in any direction as long as they were out. When they passed Heidi’s house again, Thaddeus started making an odd clucking sound. As she looked down, she saw Goliath, weaving in and out of all the plants in the garden bed.

  “Goliath, get out of there,” she urged. He just shot her a look and kept going. Mugs, his tail wagging like crazy, sat at her feet, as if to demonstrate how good he was being. She bent over and scratched him. Immediately Thaddeus cackled this weird ah-ha-ha-ha kind of a sound. She groaned. “I don’t know what’s the matter with you guys, but come on. Let’s go home. You’re a disgrace today.”

  “Doreen?” called out a happy, cheerful voice.

  She turned to look, and there was Heidi. Doreen smiled and said, “Hi, Heidi.”

  “What are you up to?”

  Preferring a white lie over sounding like an idiot, Doreen smiled and said, “Well, I headed out my front door to go for a walk, and I’m afraid these crazy animals led me here.”

  “Oh, isn’t that lovely,” Heidi said. She bent down to pet Mugs. Then she saw Goliath in the garden, and her smile fell away.

  “I’m sorry,” Doreen said. “I’ve been trying to get him out of there.”

  “Maybe you should consider a leash,” Heidi said.

  Doreen called Goliath, but he lay down in the mulch and just stared at her. She shook her head. “Normally he behaves himself,” she said, “but tonight he’s just being odd.”

  Heidi nodded and said, “He didn’t go in the gardens last time, did he?” She looked around distracted. “Of course I might not have noticed, when I was so busy working.”

  “No, he was sunning himself on the concrete driveway,” Doreen assured her. She felt uncomfortable because the animals were, indeed, misbehaving. Mugs now wandered closer and lifted a leg on the beautiful peonies. She tugged him back. “Don’t you do that.”

  Heidi laughed. “Well, your hands are full. Have a good evening.” She waved and headed back inside.

  A little disappointed, Doreen waved back and called Goliath again. When he refused, she snagged him in her arms, which started Thaddeus arguing because the multiple positions were dislodging him from her shoulder.

  When she finally straightened up, he spoke sotto voce, “Are you done?”

  She stopped and twisted to look at him. “Did you just say that to me?” she gasped.

  “Ha-ha-ha-ha.”

  “Don’t you do that,” she warned.

  “Are you done? Ha-ha-ha-ha.”

  Astonished and aghast, Doreen stormed off. When she got to the end of the block, she stopped to turn back and saw Heidi in the driveway outside of the gate, watching Doreen. When their gazes met, Heidi turned around and raced away.

  “Now look at what you did? Obviously the lady wasn’t happy to have you in the garden,” Doreen scolded Goliath.

  Mugs barked.

  “I get that,” she said. “You were all being very difficult tonight. What was that about?” She got no reply and groaned.

  When she reached her home, Mack was pulling up in her driveway. She watched him in surprise. “Wow,” she said. “So many visits in such a short
time frame.”

  He looked at her distractedly. “Mostly because everybody keeps bringing me shit,” he growled.

  She raised her eyes at his tone. “Like what?”

  He pulled out two more cinder blocks. She laughed out loud. “We don’t need those, do we?”

  “We do if we’re replacing your steps,” he said. “And we’ll need these all around the steps if we’ll go without a railing too.”

  Doreen nodded. “I didn’t think of that.” She looked in the back of his truck to see more boards, all different shades. “Wow. Did they just bring you one board at a time?”

  “These came from the captain.” Mack shook his head. “Everybody seems to be interested in your deck.”

  “They’re all welcome to come and help on the weekend,” she said cheerfully. “The more hands, the better. I’ll try my best, but I won’t be as much help to you lifting a lot of this stuff, and you can’t do it all yourself.”

  He just nodded but didn’t say anything.

  She smiled. “You look like you had a rough day.”

  “The damn cases,” he growled. Turning to look at her, he asked, “Where did you come from?”

  “Just from a walk,” she said airily.

  Mack dropped the cinder blocks on the side of her house, then went back and picked up the rest of the wood from the truck.

  Thaddeus looked at him with a gimlet eye. “Are you done? Ha-ha-ha-ha.”

  Mack stopped, turned to look at him, and said, “Seriously? Now I’ll get attitude from the bird?”

  “He’s having an attitude moment,” Doreen cried out. “I’m so sorry.”

  Mack rolled his eyes. “Where does he get this stuff from anyway?” He looked at her, the question written clearly on his face.

  “Not me,” she said. “I don’t know where he gets it from. He just said that tonight for the first time, when we were out on our walk.”

  “Where’d you walk to?”

  “Down to Aretha and Heidi’s place.”

  “Looking for more plants? I would think you had enough by now.”

  “I probably do have enough,” she said. “But, when you’re a gardener at heart, it’s hard to turn down more.”

  “Did she offer you more?”

  “No, she didn’t. She was a little bit less friendly tonight.”

  “Well, it’s nighttime,” he said. “And, if you think about it, she was probably tired, like the rest of us.”

  She noted the fatigue pulling at him, the heavier wrinkles on his face. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I keep forgetting you work a full-time job.”

  “More than full-time these days,” he said.

  She nodded, not knowing what to say.

  He headed back toward his truck.

  “Have you eaten?”

  He nodded. “I had dinner, loaded up this stuff, and brought it over.” With a honk of a horn, he took off.

  She smiled and waved, then immediately felt lonely. Even worn out, he was such a vibrant life force, such a larger-than-life person, it was hard to ignore him.

  As he drove away, she realized he hadn’t answered her texts, any of the myriad questions that needed answering. Still another day had gone by with no answers, not even from Nan, and Doreen was getting frustrated. She was used to success, but this was starting to feel like a great big failure.

  Chapter 24

  Wednesday Morning …

  Doreen woke up Wednesday morning with a heavy heart. Something was just wrong with the information she had. She was missing something but didn’t know what. As she got up and put on coffee, Nan texted her.

  Mangus said he knew of a sister but doesn’t know her name.

  Good enough. Any idea who would?

  No.

  Another dead end. She hadn’t had a chance to ask Aretha and wasn’t sure she wanted to face Heidi and Aretha in their home either. Aretha was the one who would know, but how was Doreen to reach her? Just because Aretha had a sister-in-law didn’t mean it had anything to do with this case. Doreen groaned though because none of this gave her any foresight into what she needed to do. She was getting frustrated and ugly about it. The days had just gone by, all blending into one another. And that was frustrating her more than anything. Deciding that getting an answer faster would be the best, she texted Mack and asked if he’d found out anything. About Jeremy. Zachary Winters. Reginald’s cause of death. The three recent deaths of the old ladies.

  No.

  She winced at that. A no from Mack somehow came with a thunderous oppressive silence, versus Nan’s chirpy birdlike no. They both meant the same thing; it was just so much easier to hear it from Nan. Doreen moved outside but found herself restless and out of sorts. She had checked the library and done everything she could. There didn’t appear to be anything obvious online, although she had started searching for Reginald Abelman’s name, looking for any sign there might be family. On a whim, she picked up the phone book and checked there. She found one.

  Frowning, she picked up her phone and dialed the number. As an afterthought she checked her watch and hoped it wasn’t too early to call. She didn’t want to get people upset. But it was running on nine. When an older female answered, Doreen smiled to perk up her voice and dove right in with a direct approach. “Hello, my name is Doreen. I’m wondering if you are any relation to Reginald Abelman.”

  There was a pause on the other end. “Who’s asking?”

  She started again. “I’m Doreen,” she said. “I live in Kelowna, and I was speaking with Aretha and was wondering if you were a Reginald Abelman’s sister, who was her first husband.”

  “No,” she said. “I’m not, but I find it so odd that you would ask.”

  “Why is that odd?” Doreen asked.

  “Because, if I was his sister, you’re assuming I wouldn’t have married,” she said, her voice snippy. “And I’m certainly not an old spinster.”

  Doreen’s brows drew together; she had stepped on a land mine and didn’t have a clue what had happened. “Oh,” she said. “I meant no insult. I was trying to locate his sister, and there was always a chance she had been widowed or divorced and may have reverted to her maiden name. Or she could have remarried.” She knew she was grasping at straws.

  The woman on the other end gave a snort. “Then she could have any name,” she said, her voice not quite as snappy but still enough so to make Doreen’s teeth grind.

  “Possibly, yes,” Doreen said. “Really, I’m just trying to find any family members possible.”

  “Well,” she said, “I’m not related.”

  With that, Doreen’s shoulders sagged. “Oh,” she said. “Do you happen to know of any other family members?”

  Doreen could all but feel the laser gaze coming through the phone line.

  “It’s possible,” the other woman said. “I’ll have to think about it.” Then she promptly hung up.

  Doreen stared at her phone, wondering why that had gone so badly. Then she tried to figure out in what way this woman could know somebody who might be related. But then, if she had married a male with the Abelman last name, she wouldn’t have been related, other than by marriage. At least she could be snippy and say, Not related by blood.

  Doreen grabbed her notepad and wrote down the gist of the conversation, as well as the phone number. It was a fascinating thing to go into genealogy. She would love to do family trees, but it was so much easier to just do something on ancestry.com or another one of the DNA profile sites. She could see that being something people did automatically going forward. She’d have to check them all out herself. She didn’t know how that worked. Also Reginald’s parents had lived in Vancouver. She wondered if she could find records of them.

  “I’m going crazy,” she said to Mugs.

  Mugs just sat back and woofed at her.

  “That sounded a little too much like a yes,” she said.

  Just then the phone rang, and she looked at the number and groaned. “I’m not talking to you, Zachary.” But the phon
e rang and rang. She waited until the voicemail kicked in, then listened to his message. It was the same as before. He really wanted the emerald for his wife. It was the perfect match and nothing less was good enough. She appreciated the fact that he wanted it, but how could she sell something she didn’t feel was hers to sell?

  The thought of getting ten thousand dollars for an emerald was great, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, she’d been asked to figure out who the jewels belonged to and to return them to their rightful owner.

  A part of her said they belonged to Aretha, but Doreen still wasn’t sure about that. If Aretha had anything to do with any of the mishaps that had befallen her, then Doreen wouldn’t give that money over to her, or the jewels for that matter.

  Now Doreen was really out of sorts. Just as she got up to walk out to the garden and do something, her phone rang again. It was Zachary again. She hit Talk and then End Call, so she cut him off. She didn’t want to deal with him right now. When it rang again, she went to do the same thing, but, recognizing another number, she answered it.

  “I do know an Abelman,” the snippy woman said.

  “Good,” Doreen said, letting out a long breath slowly. She walked back to the table. “Who is it?”

  Silence.

  “Is there a problem with telling me who it is?”

  “Maybe,” she said.

  “Did she ever marry?”

  “Yes.”

  Feeling like she was pulling teeth to get answers, Doreen took several calming breaths. “Is there anything you can tell me about her?”

  “She lives in Kelowna.”

  “Okay, that’s helpful,” Doreen said, making a note. “Do you know what her last name is? Or did she have any children? Anything?”