by B K Baxter
“So, what are you two ladies doing today? You’re not on your way home.” He gestured down the road.
Ethel spoke up. “We’re headed to Gaines Manor,” she said.
Calvin narrowed his stare as Velma gave Ethel a hard glare. “What on earth are you going there for?” Panic flashed in his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re playing detective again.”
Velma didn’t like his tone. As if he could tell her what to do and what not to do. “We’re just going to check on Alice,” she said, knowing he had no idea that Alice was the killer.
“Personally, I’d stay as far away from that place as possible, but suit yourself. Just don’t go getting into trouble, Velma.”
He let out a deep breath and gave her a longing look. They were so close that if she were a few decades younger, she would have craned her neck and stolen a kiss. But instead, she did nothing.
“Be careful,” he said. He patted the door and then walked away, giving them one more wave as he climbed into his truck.
“You should have kissed him, Velma. After what we’re about to do, you might not ever have another chance.”
“I know,” mumbled Velma. She cleared her throat, which suddenly had a lump. “If it’s meant to be, it will be.”
“Only if you let it,” said Ethel as she pulled back onto the road.
Chapter 27
The bridge was still in poor condition, but thankfully, someone had added extra support. Riding up to the house, Velma couldn’t believe how one night had gone so horribly wrong.
Ethel must have been thinking the same thing. “I can’t believe we’re coming back here. It still doesn’t seem real.”
“I know, but listen, you can stay in the car. I can go in alone if you want. There’s no need to get both of us in trouble or put us both in danger.”
“You’re my sister, Velma. You were my friend long before I fell for your brother, and even though you tick me off, I’m not going to leave you alone with that crazy woman.”
“Thanks, Eth.”
“No problem, Vel. Now let’s get in there and get this over with. All of this stress makes me hungry.”
“Fine, but stay out of her kitchen.”
Ethel smiled, but it quickly faded as she made her final approach to the house, parking in the front, right in the circle.
Alice came to the door. She wore a sunny yellow dress and had her hair swept up in a twist that made her look like a bird. She seemed much younger and harmless in that color, unlike the deadly predator that Velma knew she was.
When Ethel killed the engine, Velma got out as Alice stepped onto the stoop. “May I help you ladies?” Her voice was kind, and she smiled, but something about it seemed forced.
“We just wanted to check on you,” said Velma. “To see how you’re healing up.”
Alice glanced down at her arm. It wasn’t even bandaged; the wound was so superficial. “I’m doing fine. Letting it get a little air today. I’ve been in bandages for days. I’m really a fast healer.”
“You must be. It looks good.”
“I was actually about to go to the garden out back. Would you care to join me?” The invitation seemed sincere, but Velma knew better than to trust her.
Ethel slapped on a big grin. “Oh, I’d love to see the garden again.”
Velma rolled her eyes as she and Ethel hurried in behind Alice. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to keep her in the dark. On second thought, it was.
She walked them into the house. “I’m glad you can see the garden in the sunshine when it’s most beautiful.”
“I’m sure you’ll miss it when you go.” Velma searched Alice’s eyes for a reaction.
The remark seemed to put her a bit out of sorts. “With any luck, I won’t have to. If Everett did what he said he would and changed his will, not only will this become my permanent home, but he promised to leave a sizeable donation to various charities for the preservation of our dear mother earth.”
Velma was surprised to hear her admit it, but to her, they were nothing more than two stupid old ladies. “How lovely for you. I suppose you’re going to get rid of the stuffed animals in the parlor?” Velma gestured into the room as they started away from the foyer and passed the doorway.
Alice stopped and turned around. “Those poor creatures are already gone, and while I am tempted to bury them respectfully, I am also torn that others should be able to share in their majestic beauty. It’s not often that one can look into the eyes of a grizzly bear.” She gestured into the room where the large bear stood near the fireplace.
“Or hang their coat on a deer’s rack,” Ethel said with a wide smile. “I suppose they are of more use than you’d think.”
Alice seemed a bit confused by Ethel’s reasoning. Then she turned and continued down the hall. “Well, I just thought that maybe this town would pay to see some of the oddities here. And in return, I could take that money and put it into more charities.”
“You’re a very kind woman.” Velma hurried to keep up as Ethel remained a few steps behind.
Alice smiled. “Thank you.”
They passed the dining room. Ethel glanced inside and quickly turned away. She wondered how many ghosts lurked in the building. Could it be there were three? Loretta and Everett, and possibly Bats. She wasn’t about to get left behind.
As they approached the back doors, Alice pulled out the small remote and hit a button. She had the door unlocked in a moment, and they entered the garden, this time making sure not to step on any memorial plaques.
The entire area was shaded by the magnolias, and their branches swept low, some to the ground. Fat blooms made the entire area smell sweet. The sun only peeked through enough to give the roses light, and just past the trees, there was a whole sunny row of them on each side of the walkway that led to the yard and a large gate that Velma guessed led to the front.
Alice tucked the small remote back into her pocket and walked over to caress a rosebud, letting her fingers barely dance along the edges of the petals.
“You seem so at one with nature,” said Velma.
“She does, doesn’t she?” Ethel walked over and smelled the first rose that bloomed on the closest bush.
And while Ethel was distracted, Velma knew it was time to get to the bottom of things. “It must be hard to date an oil man when his very industry is the cause of so much pollution.”
Alice looked around. “I guess you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
“I can see that happening once, Alice, but twice?” Velma needed her to know she was onto her.
“What exactly did you come here for, Ms. Harmon?”
“To check on you,” said Ethel with a nervous look in her eyes.
“I mean the real reason, ladies. Let’s stop pretending, shall we? You have something on your minds?” She walked over to a basket that was sitting near a bench, plucked a few dead leaves off the roses, and put them into the basket. “You must know a lot if you know about my past.”
“I know that you killed Everett. I know how you did it and why.”
Alice looked up. “That’s a really big accusation you’re making, Ms. Harmon. There is no proof of that.”
“Actually, there is. I couldn’t help but be blinded by what I saw, which was you. A small helpless thing, your arm bleeding, your man dead on the floor, struggling to get away from a murderer. And I’m sure that’s what you wanted everyone to see. That’s why you cut yourself, isn’t it? That shallow slice was nothing more than a scratch. You played it up to put my friend in jail, and it worked.”
Alice shook her head. “He’s the guilty one. I don’t know what his beef was with my poor Everett, but he obviously had one.”
“Stop the lies, Alice. You’re done with your performance. No one here is buying it.” She hoped really hard that Ethel wouldn’t take that moment to say something stupid. “I also had another hang up. It was the weather that played into your favor as well. And you saw that as a perfect opportunity.”
“
I can’t control the weather,” said Alice.
“But that’s the beauty of it. Rain or shine, your plan was a go. You see, it occurred to me.” Velma walked over and smelled one of the bright orange blossoms that hung near. “Power outages happen every day, no matter the weather.”
“I can’t control them either.” She gave her a narrow look. “You’re embarrassing yourself, Ms. Harmon.”
“Ah, but you could control them. You see, I remembered something from that night. You brought Ethel and me out here, and since it was dark, you used that handy remote, not only to unlock the doors but to turn on the lights. You even said that it controlled the entire house.”
“So? Is that supposed to mean something?” She tried to put up a brave front, but Velma could tell she was growing angry as her hands began to shake.
“You called us all to dinner and waited until everyone was standing around, including your friend who you hired, probably because you knew he carried those ridiculous knives. You killed the power, stabbed who you thought was Everett, and then turned the lights back on.”
“You’re out of your mind. I didn’t do all of that. Everett was with me the entire time. He even took my hand.”
“Nice try, but I know I’m right. That scream you gave, the one when you saw Bats dead across the table and your beloved standing next to you? That was the look of someone who had just made a horrible mistake. A person who had just killed an innocent man.”
Alice’s face scrunched up as if she could ugly cry.
“That’s the one,” said Velma.
Alice’s expression changed to a wild look. “I might have made a mistake, but I rid the world of an evil man. You see those animals in the there? All beloved, beautiful creatures who served their purpose on this earth and took nothing from it, leaving a much smaller footprint than any of us. I did the planet a favor. You all should be thanking me!”
“You let an innocent man be arrested for what you did.”
“He was just a casualty of the war I am fighting to save the earth. Don’t you get it? Do you know how many chemicals are released into the air, into that very river?” She gestured to the back of the property where it touched the river banks. “His company’s fracking techniques are killing us and our homes, and you don’t even see it!”
“I know you mean well, but you can’t play judge, jury, and executioner.”
Alice turned back to tend the flowers. “I have to do whatever I can, and I’m not about to let you or your sister stop me. I will do whatever it takes, even if that means ridding the world of people like you who try to protect monsters like Everett Gaines.”
Alice pulled a large pair of garden shears out of the basket and held them like she could commit another murder.
“Velma! She’s going to kill us!”
“Put that down, Alice. You’ll do no killing here today.” Velma took a step forward, but Ethel ran and hid behind one of the large magnolias. “You’re all done killing.”
Another voice joined the conversation. “Drop the weapon, and put your hands up!”
Velma breathed a sigh of relief as Alice’s eyes widened. She knew she was busted, so she tossed the shears to the ground and slowly turned around.
“Put your hands on your head,” said Chief Rayne, taking the woman into custody.
Velma turned toward Ethel, who was still frozen stiff behind the tree. “You can come on out now, Ethel. It’s over.”
Ethel peeked around the tree. “Oh, Velma. I thought for sure we were goners. She was going to lop my head off with those shears.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ethel. She wouldn’t have cut your head off. She would have only had to stab you with them.”
Ethel’s fear quickly turned to anger. “You knew the chief was here all along, didn’t you?”
Velma smiled. “No offense, but I couldn’t take a chance of you blowing things.”
“You could have at least warned me!” Ethel’s scolding tone was comical, mostly because Velma was so relieved.
“I told you, Ethel. You have to trust me.”
There wasn’t anything more Ethel could say to argue with that.
Chapter 28
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong, officer,” said Alice as they led her out to the front of the house, where Reeves waited with the other deputies. “Those women came in and threatened me.”
Velma followed along behind the chief and Alice. “Don’t even try it, girlie. You confessed.”
“It’s her word against mine!” Alice said to Chief Rayne as she opened the door of Bucky’s police car.
“Velma?” Chief Rayne gestured to her, and Velma gave a nod.
Velma reached into her shirt and took out the wire and battery pack she had worn. Alice’s eyes widened, and Velma felt great satisfaction that the woman was in custody. “They heard everything. Like I said, you’re all done.” Velma smiled, seeing the look on Alice’s face.
Ethel stood beside her with her mouth gaping. She hadn’t seen that coming too, and she wondered if her heart could take any more surprises.
Alice’s expression turned hard again. She’d really thought she was untouchable. “It’s people like you who make this world the ugly place it is.” She turned to the chief. “You and your badges. You don’t use them for the good of the earth. Someone should have arrested Everett for what he did to the planet, and I’m not sorry I stopped him from his evil deeds! You might think I’ve been defeated, but I was victorious!”
Reeves stepped up, shaking his finger at her. “Actually, you weren’t successful at all. Your plan was to stop what you thought he was doing to the environment through the company. But in case you haven’t realized it yet, the company is still going strong, and that was truly Everett’s heart. So, you see, you didn’t kill him at all. He’ll live on as long as that company is open.” The chief took that moment to hand him the remote control to the house.
“You’re wrong,” Alice said with a crazy laugh. “What will happen to his stupid company now? It will collapse now that he’s dead. You know no one could run it like he could.”
“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong again.” Reeves looked over toward the bridge, and Velma’s eyes followed. Coming across the bridge in a large truck with horns on the top was Harrison Spoke.
“Wait,” said Velma. “You mean Everett left the business to Harrison? I thought they were rivals. I guess Harrison was telling the truth about their partnership.”
Reeves nodded. “Even Everett knew his business would only survive if he left it to Harrison. He got the news about an hour ago when the will was read. I just got back myself.” Reeves looked over at the chief. “Thanks for the heads-up. I hope you don’t mind that I called Harrison to come too. I thought it might give him a little peace of mind knowing that the real killer was caught.”
Chief Rayne looked across the lawn to where he approached. “I’m sure he’ll be just as thrilled as the rest of you to see this finally coming to an end.” She smiled and then turned to Velma. “And thank you. You did a great job once again, but I’m afraid I’m still going to have to say it.”
“What’s that, Chief?” asked Velma, even though she had a feeling she already knew what was coming next.
“It’s time to leave the police work to me. I’ll take it from here.” With that, she and the other deputies went to their cars to leave.
Harrison pulled up behind the Buick and parked. His face turned a bit red when he saw Ethel, and he couldn’t exactly make eye contact. “Hey,” he said to them as he walked up and shook Reeves’s hand. “Thanks for calling me.”
Ethel turned toward Velma as if using her as a shield.
“Don’t thank me,” said Reeves. “These are the ladies you should be thanking. The chief told me that Velma here figured out the lights. I didn’t even think about the damned remote. Everett was always wanting to change this and that, and I had never used the damned system anyway. I leave all of that fancy computerized stuff to the young ones.”
“And a young one made good use of it,” said Velma. “Her plan was going down, rain or not, but the weather sure made it convenient for her.”
“Thanks for getting to the bottom of it,” said Harrison.
Velma’s chest swelled with pride, her head with ego. “Just doing what I can for the town. It’s my home. If everyone in Bliss does a small part to take care of it, it will be just fine for the future generations.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Harrison.
“I’m sure you will,” she said. “I hear congratulations are in order. You got the company. You’re officially the richest man in town.”
Reeves cleared his throat.
Harrison exchanged a look with the man. “Actually, I earned a large share. The controlling interest still belongs to Reeves, here. And my title of second-most wealthy man of Bliss is still intact.”
“Don’t worry. I have it on good authority that this house is about to be up for sale, and once I move, you’ll officially be in the lead.” He gave Harrison a pat on the back.
Velma hated to hear that Reeves was going to sell the place and move. “I can’t believe you’d leave all of this.” Bliss had been his home for years.
“It’s time for me to move along to something of my own. Bliss was never my home. I was just working to pay off my old gambling debts, and then I stayed for Loretta. By the time she was gone, I didn’t know anything else.” He glanced over at the house fondly. “Who knows? Maybe whoever buys it will love it as much as she did.”
Harrison looked over at Ethel, who still ducked down behind her sister the best she could. “I do believe I owe you ladies an apology for my behavior earlier in the week. I was under a lot of stress.”
“I suppose losing two friends in a matter of hours in such a horrible way could make any man feel that way,” said Velma. She gave Ethel a nudge. “Isn’t that right, Ethel?”
“I suppose.” She still felt jilted with him leaving before dinner was even served.
Harrison snapped his fingers. “I’ve got an idea. How about the four of us take a friendly, celebratory trip down to Ruby Jack’s and have a steak dinner?”