A Desperate Search

by Amanda Stevens

  “Yes. Sorry it took so long, but you know how Lila Wilkes is when she gets wound up. She doesn’t know how to take a hint.”

  “It’s okay. I was just texting a friend.” Nikki nodded to the covered dish in Dessie’s hands. “She really did bring over another casserole.”

  “Blackberry cobbler this time. Still warm from the oven.” Dessie removed the top and drew in the aroma. “Say what you will about the woman, but she knows her way around a kitchen.”

  Questions swirled in Nikki’s head as she kept right on smiling.

  Ask her about the marriage license. Ask her about the will. Tell her what you overheard the night before and see how she reacts.

  Not yet, she decided. Better to play this out for a little while longer and see if Dessie let something slip.

  Her hands were still trembling, Nikki realized. She clasped her fingers together in her lap. “That was Lila at the door? Did she come to badger you again about the funeral service?”

  Dessie cocked her head in confusion. “Did I mention she’d been here before about the funeral?”

  Too late, Nikki remembered she wasn’t supposed to know about Lila’s previous visits. The contents of that envelope had left her rattled and now she was the one who had let something slip. “She came by my house after work on Friday,” Nikki said with a shrug. “I assumed she’d been by here as well.”

  “Three times already. She doesn’t know when to give up.”

  “She is persistent,” Nikki agreed.

  “Even so, it’d be a shame to let a perfectly good cobbler go to waste,” Dessie said. “Especially when I’ve got homemade vanilla ice cream in the freezer.”

  Nikki’s first inclination was to decline. After seeing those documents, the last thing she wanted to do was sit at Dr. Nance’s breakfast table and make small talk with the woman who apparently stood to gain the most from his death. But she’d come over here to gather information and this was as opportune a time as she’d likely get to be alone with Dessie.

  Just be casual. Pretend you never saw that marriage license. Pretend you don’t know that Dessie is planning a romantic Caribbean honeymoon with Dr. Nance’s attorney.

  She summoned another smile. “That would be a shame. I’d love to dig into that cobbler, but only if you’re having some, too. And only if you’ll let me help.”

  “You can get the ice cream from the freezer.” She returned Nikki’s smile. “It’ll be just like old times.”

  Nikki dug out the tub of ice cream while Dessie dished up the cobbler. Then they carried their desserts back to the table and sat across from one another.

  Nikki sampled the warm blackberries while keeping an eye on her companion. “Yum. You’re right. Lila is a good cook. Not as good as you, though.”

  “Don’t let her hear you say that,” Dessie warned. “You know Lila. She has to be best at everything, be it growing roses or baking cobblers.”

  “Or planning funerals.”

  “That, too.”

  Nikki let the ice cream melt for a moment. “Did you tell her there wasn’t going to be a formal service?”

  “I did.”

  “How did she take it?”

  “About as well as you’d expect. Luckily, Clete...Mr. Darnell was there to back me up.”

  “Yes, that was lucky.”

  Dessie glanced across the table as if detecting something troubling in Nikki’s tone. A frown flickered before she shrugged it away. “Not that it’ll make that much difference to Lila. She’ll do as she pleases regardless of anyone else’s wishes. She always has. She muttered something about a memorial service before she finally left.”

  “Maybe a memorial service wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Nikki said. “Just something simple where people in the community can get together to celebrate Dr. Nance’s life.”

  Dessie gave her an odd look. “Nothing is simple once Lila Wilkes gets involved. She turns everything into a production. She loves to be the center of attention, even at someone else’s memorial service.”

  “You don’t like her much, do you?” Nikki asked carefully.

  Dessie hesitated. “No, I guess I don’t. Just between you and me, we’ve had our problems in the past.”

  “What kind of problems?”

  Dessie looked discomfited. “I shouldn’t speak ill of the woman. Especially on a Sunday.”

  “It’s just me,” Nikki coaxed.

  Dessie dabbed her lips. “Don’t get me wrong. She’s done a lot of good things in this town. Been a real blessing to the elderly. I don’t know what some folks around here would do without her. But she’s always had a problem with boundaries.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She used to think nothing of calling Dr. Nance in the middle of the night or showing up here at all hours to ask about a medication or treatment for someone she was looking after. Half the time, he wasn’t even the person’s doctor. I finally had to tell her she needed to respect his personal time. Either go to the ER or make an appointment.”

  “What did she say to that?”

  “She didn’t like it, but that wasn’t the first time I’d had to call her out. We had some of the same issues when she first came to town.”

  Nikki idly stirred the melted ice cream into the gooey filling. “She told me a little about her move here. She said Dr. Nance was the one who tracked her down and convinced her to come to Belle Pointe to care for her aunt.”

  Dessie’s mouth thinned. “He tracked her down. I don’t know how much convincing he had to do.”

  “Yes, I got the impression she hadn’t exactly resisted the idea.” Nikki glanced up. “You were already working for Dr. Nance at the time?”

  Dessie nodded. “I started here right after his wife died. Part-time at first until I moved into the garage apartment. Then I took on more responsibilities. Not just cooking and cleaning, but paying bills, overseeing repairs, that sort of thing. My mama raised me to be plainspoken, so maybe I wasn’t as tactful as I should have been with someone like Lila. She’s...needy. But Dr. Nance had suffered a terrible tragedy and he was working himself to death just trying to cope with the loss. I felt very protective of him.”

  “What did Lila do?”

  “Besides the phone calls and the unannounced visits? Sometimes she’d go to the hospital to try and catch him between rounds. I guess she thought since he was the one who brought her here, she was entitled to his undivided time and attention. I stepped in and put a stop to it then, and later when things got out of hand again.”

  Dessie’s candor surprised Nikki, even though she’d come here looking for answers. She’d gotten an eyeful snooping into that envelope and now she was getting an earful about Lila Wilkes. But a strange sense of unease dampened her excitement. The thought occurred to her that maybe Dessie was playing her, revealing information calculated to distract and mislead.

  Nikki put that thought aside and tried to maintain a neutral tone. “Do you think Lila had romantic feelings for Dr. Nance?”

  Dessie seemed to consider the question carefully. “I have wondered about that at times. It would explain a lot.” Her gaze sharpened. “Why? Did she say something to you?”

  “Only that she had a crush on him when she first came here. She said everyone in town did.”

  Dessie scowled. “I don’t know about everyone, but I reckon he was considered a catch. A young, handsome widower and a doctor, to boot. He could have had his pick of lady friends, and I doubt Lila Wilkes would have been high on that list.”

  Nikki thought about Tom Brannon’s suggestion that something may have gone on between Dessie and Dr. Nance. Was that the reason Dessie had felt so protective of him? The real reason for her animosity toward Lila Wilkes?

  “This may sound strange, but did Lila ever stalk Dr. Nance? You said she used to turn up at the hospital to see him. That’s pretty aggressi
ve behavior.”

  “Well, that’s Lila. She’s a bulldozer when she wants something.”

  “Did you ever catch her snooping through his things?”

  The question seemed to catch Dessie off guard. “Snooping through his things? What are you talking about?”

  “At some point in time, someone came into this house and took Dr. Nance’s gold watch from the mantel in his study. Instead of selling such an expensive timepiece, the thief hid it under a floorboard at the Ruins. Maybe I’m reaching, but that seems personal to me. That watch meant a lot to him.”

  Dessie’s gaze widened. “You think Lila Wilkes took his watch?”

  “Maybe she thought she could somehow sever his ties to his dead wife. Or if she felt rejected, maybe she was trying to hurt him. Who knows? That kind of behavior isn’t rational. Did she have access to the house?”

  “You mean did she have a key? Not that I know of, but she wouldn’t have needed one to get in. Dr. Nance was always careless about locking up. I was forever finding doors and windows open. Anyone could have come in at almost any time.”

  “Did anything besides the gold watch ever go missing?”

  “No, but...” Dessie trailed off.

  Nikki leaned in anxiously. “What?”

  “It’s probably nothing. Just my own absentmindedness. About the time when we first realized the watch had been stolen, I noticed things in other parts of the house had been moved around. Like someone had purposefully gone from room to room rearranging his belongings.”

  “Did you tell Dr. Nance?”

  “Yes, and for a while, he was a little better at locking up, especially at night, but when nothing else happened, he eventually fell back into his old ways.” Her gaze lifted. “Why are you asking all these questions, Nikki? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “I’m just trying to gather information.”

  Dessie wasn’t buying it. “What kind of information?”

  “Anything that will help to establish the cause, manner and circumstances of Dr. Nance’s death.”

  Dessie blinked in confusion. “But Sheriff Brannon came to the house and told me in this very kitchen that Dr. Nance had drowned in Echo Lake. He said they found his fishing boat down by the bridge.”

  “That’s true,” Nikki said. “However, I’m not yet convinced the drowning was accidental.”

  The spoon slipped from Dessie’s fingers and clattered against the bowl. She wiped frantically at the splatters with her napkin. “What are you saying? You can’t think someone...” She closed her eyes briefly and drew a quick breath. “I can’t bring myself to even think such a thing, let alone say it.”

  Nikki gave her a sympathetic nod. “I know. I feel the same way. It’s a terrible thing to contemplate. That someone he knew and trusted...someone we know...could have deliberately harmed him.”

  Dessie said a little desperately, “You’re the coroner. A pathologist. Can’t you tell about such things?”

  “Not always. Not after that long in the water. The body starts to break down—”

  “Don’t!” Dessie looked horrified. “Please. I don’t want to have that image in my head.”

  “I’m sorry.” Nikki reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “I don’t mean to upset you. Maybe his death was an accident. Maybe he took the boat out in the dark, got confused on the water and rammed into the bridge pilings. But that’s a lot of maybes and there are still too many unanswered questions. Do you have any idea why he changed his mind at the last minute about his trip to Houston?”

  “No. I was as surprised as anyone to learn that he’d gone to the lake instead.”

  “Did you worry when you didn’t hear from him?”

  “He rarely called when he was away,” Dessie said. “I didn’t think anything of it until Sheriff Brannon showed up at the door.”

  “You were here the whole time he was gone? You couldn’t have missed a call?”

  “Not the whole time. I had errands to run, groceries to buy, normal, everyday duties to attend to.”

  “I meant you were in town,” Nikki clarified. “You didn’t take a trip or anything.” Or go on a quickie honeymoon?

  Dessie hesitated. “Where do you think I would have gone to?”

  “Nowhere. I don’t think anything. I’m just asking questions.”

  “Yes, and a lot of them.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to do my job, that’s all. I want to do right by Dr. Nance.”

  Dessie shook her head forlornly. “You really think someone could have killed him?”

  “I think it’s possible.”

  She stared at Nikki for the longest time. Something gleamed in the depths of her eyes, but Nikki couldn’t place the emotion. Fear? Guilt? If she had to guess, the dark glint seemed more like anger. “Who do you think did it?”

  “I don’t know yet. As I said, I’m still trying to gather information. It sounds crazy to even ask this, but did he have any enemies?”

  “Enemies?” She looked appalled. “Everyone loved the man.”

  “What about arguments or disagreements, even something that seemed trivial at the time? Anything at all come to mind?”

  Dessie’s expression seemed to harden. “You know as well as I do that Dr. Nance got along with everyone. He could charm the birds out of the trees when he set his mind to it.”

  “What about at the clinic or hospital?”

  “I’m sure there were differences of opinion from time to time. He was never shy about speaking his mind. But people respected him for that.”

  “What about Dr. Wingate?” Nikki asked. “Any problems with the partnership?”

  Dessie’s gaze turned shrewd. “Why? What did you hear?”

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Nikki said. “But I saw Dr. Wingate at Dr. Nance’s cabin last night.”

  “Last night? What was she doing there?” Dessie’s tone shifted. “What were you doing there?”

  “I went out to the lake to visit a friend and we saw a light in the cabin. We thought someone might have broken in. Apparently, Dr. Wingate let herself in with a key that Dr. Nance gave her a long time ago. She seemed concerned that he’d removed some medical records from the clinic before he died. She said the cabin was the last place she could think to look for them. Did she or anyone else from the clinic come to the house to search his study?”

  “Not while I’ve been here.” Dessie didn’t look at all pleased that a casual conversation had turned into an interrogation. Nikki could hardly blame her. “I haven’t heard from Dr. Wingate since we found out about Dr. Nance. Not one word.”

  “As I said, she had a key to the cabin. Is there any reason she would have a key to this house? Maybe she came while you were out.”

  “I don’t think so, but like I said, if someone wanted in badly enough, they could have found a way.”

  Yes, Nikki could attest to that. She cleared her throat. “Dr. Nance apparently told his assistant that he needed the files for some mysterious project he was working on. You told Sheriff Brannon he’d been coming home from the clinic and shutting himself up in his study. When you asked, he said he was working on a puzzle. Do you think those files could be related?”

  Dessie shrugged. “I wouldn’t know anything about those files.”

  “He didn’t say anything else about this mysterious puzzle or project? You don’t have any idea what he was working on?”

  “I cooked and cleaned and stayed out of his business as much as I could. It wasn’t my job to ask a lot of questions.”

  “But the two of you were friends. Maybe he let something slip in everyday conversation. Think back, Dessie. This could be important.”

  “Nikki, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  “I’m just gathering information, remember?”

  “About Dr. W
ingate?”

  “About anyone connected to Dr. Nance.”

  “I guess you’ll be asking questions about me next.” She gave Nikki a peculiar look. “Maybe you already have.”

  Oh, I have questions for you, Dessie. You’ve no idea. How long have you been seeing Clete Darnell romantically? Whose idea was it to get married so quickly and then change your will? Why keep the union a secret if everything is on the up-and-up? “Right now we’re talking about Dr. Wingate.”

  Dessie’s gaze seemed knowing, but maybe that was Nikki’s imagination.

  She took another stab. “I can’t help thinking that Dr. Wingate is going to a lot of trouble to find those files. She claimed she’s worried about patient privacy, but I’m not so sure.” Nikki paused. “Did you know that Dr. Nance was planning to retire when he came back from Houston?”

  Dessie’s brows shot up. “Retire? Who told you that?”

  “Dr. Wingate said he’d been having some issues at the clinic.”

  “What issues?”

  “According to her, he’d been forgetting appointments and mixing up prescriptions. Things had gotten to the point where she felt she had to step in. Dr. Nance agreed to phase out his practice when he returned from his trip.”

  Dessie folded her arms. “I don’t believe a word of it. He would have said something if he was planning to leave the clinic.”

  “But you told Sheriff Brannon that you’d also noticed a change in his behavior.”

  “Yes. He was distant and distracted. At times, he seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. But I never said anything about memory issues.” She grew pensive. “Now you’ve got me to wondering about Dr. Wingate. You think there’s something incriminating about her in those files?”

  “That’s what I’d like to find out.”

  “She said he’d been forgetting things, did she? Well, that’s convenient. If he was on to her, maybe she was trying to make him look unreliable. What better way to clear herself than by casting doubt on Dr. Nance?”

  “You think she made up the incidents at the clinic?”

  “Maybe not altogether. We all forget things as we get older. I know I do. But she could have exaggerated what happened.” Dessie gave Nikki a long look. “You know how that works. Plant the seed of doubt and people will start looking for mistakes.”