The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “This.” Kim took out a piece of paper with a lawyer’s letterhead on it. “It’s a copy of Zoey’s will.”

  “Zoey’s will!”

  “We were the witnesses,” Kim said. “It’s funny. We were updating ours and Zoey was around for the conversation. One thing led to another. She only made a will because Perry told her it was irresponsible not to. He’s big on having your papers in order in case something happens.”

  “Oh.” Nora didn’t know what to say.

  “Yes. It’s been some time now, so I didn’t remember this the other day,” Kim explained.

  “Did Zoey say anything about—”

  “About who she was leaving everything to? Yes. She discussed that with us. She told me she still loved Brock and that he’d turned over a new leaf. She said she didn’t have anyone else in her life, really, so Brock was the best person.”

  Nora raised an eyebrow. “She said she still loved Brock? But she’s dating Matt Whitman.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t think she would have continued dating him too much longer,” Kim said. “Now that I think of it, I’m pretty sure she was planning to break up with him.”

  “What?”

  “Well, she was talking about it,” Kim said.

  “Kim, why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I really racked my brain after we met. I mean, that was just a passing comment, really. A week ago, maybe two. I made a joke about a romantic dinner and then teased Zoey that she must have plenty of those with Matt. She told me it was nice how deeply in love Perry and I are. She said she hoped she’d find the same again one day.”

  “Huh.”

  “So I asked her if Matt could be it, and she said probably not.” Kim sighed. “I know, I’m an idiot for not remembering this before, but…” She paused. “Did you hear a knock?”

  Nora shook her head.

  “I think someone’s at the door. I’ll be right back.” She smiled apologetically. “Two minutes.”

  “Sure.” Nora waited as Kim swung the door shut behind her.

  She looked down at the piece of paper in her hand. Then, not knowing what she was looking for, really, Nora headed behind Perry’s desk and opened each of the drawers, rummaging around. There were a lot of useless notes about Perry’s work including an old reminder to Matt Whitman that the doll’s eye plants in the garden hadn’t been removed yet and a note from a construction foreman about the difficulties encountered while renovating an ancient mansion.

  Nora paused, however, as she caught sight of a notepad and saw Ronnie Shepherd’s name written on it. What was this, now? There was a note written in neat cursive:

  Ronnie Shepherd, young mother of two, looking for small apartment with easy access to schools. Budget — as low as possible.

  Nora read the note twice, confused. Why was Ronnie looking for a house when she already had one?

  Nora shuffled the papers a bit and found another note in Perry’s distinctive handwriting:

  Please engrave locket with “To Kim — My Soul, My Mate. Happy 20th Anniversary. Yours, Perry.” Deliver by next Sunday.

  Feeling a bit guilty for poking her nose into other people’s business, Nora slid the drawer shut and backed away. What was she hoping to find, anyway? A written confession? A silver jacket? Fat chance. It was not like Perry would leave it lying about if he were a serial killer.

  Besides, right now, the biggest question in her mind when it came to the silver jacket was: why had Matt lied to the sheriff about it?

  The door opened and Nora shifted guiltily from one foot to the other.

  “There wasn’t anyone at the door. I must have imagined it,” Kim said. “Anyway, where were we?” She looked at Nora, then gave a puzzled look at the chair beside the desk. “Weren’t you sitting?”

  “Oh, I just thought I’d stand up. Stretch a bit.” Nora gave an exaggerated stretch. “You were about to tell me something.”

  “I was?”

  “Yes, did you ask Perry if he talked to Zoey the day before she died?”

  “I did,” Kim confirmed. “He said he was in the den watching football. Sorry. Zoey was cleaning out the attic that day, so I don’t think he saw much of her.”

  “Oh.” Disappointed, Nora sighed.

  “Of course, Zoey did have to leave a little early to head to Ronnie’s house,” Kim said. “She was helping with the packing.”

  “Helping with the…” Nora paused. “Is Ronnie moving somewhere?”

  Kim lowered her voice, which was ridiculous considering it was just the two of them. “Don’t you know? She’s leaving him. Taking the kids and moving to another house.”

  “Oh! Poor Ronnie! Poor Tom, too,” Nora said. “She’s divorcing him?”

  “It’s a first step, I think. Zoey asked us to look for new houses for her. Keep it to yourself, will you? We’re the only ones that know…apart from Zoey.”

  “But why would she divorce him? They seem so happy together.”

  Kim shrugged. “You never know with a marriage, do you? According to Zoey, Tom’s a selfish husband. Never does his share, and Ronnie’s sick of it.”

  “He really didn’t seem the type to me,” Nora said.

  “Yes, well, I always say better a happy single life than an unhappy marriage.” Kim shrugged.

  “Speaking of marriages, your anniversary is next week, isn’t it?” Nora asked.

  “Oh, how kind of you to remember. It’ll be twenty years next week. Can you imagine?” Kim smiled. “I’ll bet that wretch Perry has forgotten all about it. I’m still thinking of what to get him. Something techie and cool. He always loves that. Men are so difficult to shop for, I tell you. If Perry wants something, he just buys it anyway.”

  “You could always go for a handwritten note or something craftsy,” Nora said. “Harvey loves it when I do that.”

  “Actually, there’s one thing I know he’d appreciate,” Kim said. “There’s this perfume he used to love, that was discontinued, Mysore Rajah. I thought I’d hunt out a bottle for him. I did find it online, but it was darned expensive!”

  There was a furious pounding at the door and both Nora and Kim looked up, startled.

  “You’re not imagining it this time,” Nora said.

  Kim walked to the door and opened it to find a furious Matt Whitman on her porch. Unshaven and with his hair sticking out in all directions, he was quite a sight. He glared at Kim and took out a crumpled letter from his pocket.

  “What’s this?” He demanded, brandishing it at her.

  “Why, I’m not sure I know,” Kim said. “Is there a problem?”

  “Yeah, there’s a problem. The problem is your slimy husband! He’s not paying me!”

  “Well, you’d better discuss that with him. I don’t know anything about it.” Kim tried shutting the door but Matt edged a foot in, preventing her from closing it fully.

  “Tell your husband to stop playing games!” Matt growled. “Hasn’t he learned his lesson yet? He better pay me or else!”

  “I’m calling the police if you’re not out of here in three seconds!” Kim’s voice was high and scared.

  “I’m leaving. I’m leaving. But tell your Perry he can only push a man so far before he snaps,” Matt said. Retrieving his foot, he tore the letter in his hand to little pieces and flung it in the air like confetti. Then, turning on his heel, he marched out. Kim shut the door and leaned against it, breathing heavily.

  “The man’s positively insane!” she declared. “I’m going to tell Perry to install a better security system.”

  “I’d do that if I were you,” Nora said. “And don’t open the door for him again.”

  “You can bet on that,” Kim agreed. “Last thing I need is to be found dead like Zoey!”

  *****

  Chapter 16

  Matt’s Version

  Nora pulled out of Kim’s driveway, expecting to go home. But, as the iron gates closed automatically behind her, Nora
caught sight of something in her rear view mirror that made her hit the brakes.

  Matt was sitting on the curb, his head in his hands. His great bulk was shaking slightly. Nora hesitated, then made up her mind. Parking her car on the side of the road, she got out and slammed the door to get his attention. Matt looked up, blinked at her and then turned away. After seeing the way he’d behaved with Kim, Nora was very sure she didn’t want Matt anywhere near Hazel. Maybe she was interfering, but this was her daughter! She figured it would be a good chance to warn Matt that he messed with Hazel at his own peril.

  “What d’you want?” Matt snapped as she approached. “Come to crow? Or to poke your nose where it doesn’t belong again?”

  Startled, Nora asked, “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that someone gave my glove to the Sheriff’s Department,” Matt said. “Deputy James returned the glove to me when they couldn’t find any DNA or evidence on it. I told him he could just have just asked me about it. I’d been wondering all week where my gardening glove had vanished to! At first I thought I’d lost it while cutting out those doll’s eye plants. But then I thought again and realized you must have taken it!”

  Nora flushed, betraying herself. Matt shook his head in disbelief. “Are you stupid? Do you think I’d murder Zoey and then leave the glove that was somehow involved lying around my house? The only thing I’ve ever used that glove for is working the gardens I’m responsible for.”

  “I’m sorry,” Nora said. “Clearly, I was wrong.”

  “Clearly.” Matt mimicked her. “Clearly you need to stay away from me.”

  “And you need to stay away from my daughter!” Nora exclaimed. “Give up this idea of doing business with her. She doesn’t need your kind of trouble.”

  Matt stared at Nora, blinking slowly. “Is it you? Did you put Perry up to it?”

  “Up to what?” Nora was confused.

  “Perry isn’t paying me the wages he owed me. That man made me break my back working for him and now he’s not paying up. Why? Just because he knows that I need it. He knows that I can’t afford to take him to court and, without that money, I can’t start my own company. So I’m stuck, aren’t I?”

  “I...” Nora didn’t know what to say.

  “Perry claims I didn’t do my work, but that’s nonsense,” Matt said. “Wait, you or your husband put him up to this, didn’t you? To stop me and Hazel from starting our own company?”

  “Of course not!” Nora exclaimed. That was ridiculous. Neither she nor Harvey would ever behave like that. Matt was obviously paranoid. She wondered if he was drunk, too, though he didn’t seem it.

  Matt scoffed. “I can’t believe you two. You don’t deserve a daughter like Hazel. She’s everything you aren’t. Sweet and caring and actually a decent person. How you two lizards brought her up is beyond me.”

  “Hey! Enough with the insults already.” Nora bristled. “And how about you? Why’d you end up lying to the sheriff? You were the one who told me Zoey was worried about a silver jacket. Why deny that later?”

  Matt’s jaw clenched. “Sure. I told you that. I regret it, too. If I’d stuck to that story, the sheriff would have let Brock Williams go scot-free and Zoey’s case would end up clogged in red tape as he tried to follow some nonexistent lead. Don’t you get it, Nora? Brock killed her. It had to be him! And I’m gonna do my best to see that he’s put away for life this time.”

  “Are you sure it was Brock?” Nora asked. “Because I don’t think so. Zoey thought he’d changed, and Zoey was a good judge of character. She loved him.”

  Matt recoiled. “What?”

  “That’s right,” Nora said. “Zoey loved Brock. You know it, too, don’t you? I can see it in your face. You chased after her and chased after her, but it was never enough. Her heart was with Brock, always. She was planning to break up with you, wasn’t she? You knew it, too. Is that why you did it? Jealousy? You couldn’t bear for her to reject you?”

  Matt stood up, hulking over Nora, his fists clenched. “You better shut up. Shut up or I’ll kill you!”

  Nora’s jaw dropped. The same words. The same words that had been on the note attached to the brick. Her heart sped up and a fine sweat broke out over her body. The road was completely deserted at this time of the day and, even if she cried out for help, there would be nobody to hear her. For the second time, Nora noticed the set of Matt’s jaw, the dangerous scar on his face. She remembered Harvey telling her that he’d once been to jail. This was a man who clearly didn’t care about laws once his temper was up.

  Matt rubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t know what got into me. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s the stress. It’s everything. My life’s falling apart. Job, girl, health...”

  “It’s alright.” Nora’s voice was soft, placatory. Somehow, she had to get away from him. If she couldn’t do that, she had to keep him talking until she found a way to escape.

  “You’re right. Zoey was going to break up with me. I knew it would happen sooner or later. Even when we were at dinner that night, she was just so distant…”

  “You deserve better. You’ll find someone,” Nora said.

  “Will I? I’m near 50 and jobless. Nobody will want me. Zoey sure didn’t.”

  “I’m sure she was fond of you.”

  “Yeah, but I had no chance with her as long as Brock was in the picture.” Matt sighed. “That fool. He threw away his life, he threw away Zoey, and she still loved him! She couldn’t even look at me because her eyes were clouded with visions of him.”

  “It’s all in the past now, anyway,” Nora said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

  “Oh, yes, I can. I can make sure Brock’s punished,” Matt said. “And I promise you, I will.”

  *****

  Chapter 17

  A Parcel of Hope

  Nora didn’t know what to do. Matt’s words were still ringing in her ears and neither the diner nor her home seemed the right place to go. She didn’t want to face Hazel, afraid as she was that she would aggravate the situation by forbidding Hazel from going near Matt once again. At the diner, she knew Tina would be waiting to pounce on her with questions about the broken window from the night before, and she certainly wasn’t in a mood to answer those.

  She wasn’t even thinking as she drove, really, but her car found its way through the familiar streets and finally came to a stop at Mrs. Mullally’s house. Nora sat for a minute with her hands on the wheel, wondering if she should just turn back. Then the door opened and Ronnie Shepherd stepped out onto the porch with a glass of juice in her hand. Nora watched her sip it and then close her eyes, as though she were savoring that single moment of peace.

  A mother of two young kids, facing a future alone — Nora didn’t envy her one bit. Getting out of her car, Nora walked up the drive and Ronnie looked at her wearily.

  “What do you want?” she asked, no trace of friendliness in her voice.

  “I want to talk to you,” Nora said, equally blunt. “You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

  “And what business is it of yours?” Ronnie snapped. “You don’t know me, you don’t know my life. So stay out of it.”

  “Ronnie, Zoey’s murderer is still out there, roaming free,” Nora said. Ronnie twitched guiltily and looked down at the porch.

  “As for why it’s my business…” Nora paused, “someone threw a brick through my window last night. There was a pleasant little note attached to it, threatening to kill me if I didn’t, and I quote, shut up.”

  “I...” Ronnie’s eyes grew wider and her mouth formed a little “o”. She seemed to have lost her voice. “That must have been scary,” she managed, finally. “If I were you…” She stopped.

  “If you were me, what?” Nora asked.

  “If I were you, I’d stop poking my nose about, is all,” Ronnie said. “I mean, the killer means business, and you’re risking your life. Not just that, you’re risking your family’s lives.”

  “Zoey deserves j
ustice,” Nora said. “She was a good woman, a rare woman. All she wanted was a chance to work hard and to live on her own terms. The murderer took that away from her when he took her life. Of course I’m scared of the risk, and I’m scared for my family’s lives. But—”

  “But what? It’s irresponsible,” Ronnie shot back. “You go around playing amateur sleuth, but real people can get hurt. Your daughters could get hurt!”

  Nora felt shaken. “They won’t be.”

  “How do you know? The killer could go after them! Zoey is already dead. Justice doesn’t matter to her. Your daughters are important, Nora. Go home and forget Zoey.”

  “Why are you so eager to forget her?” Nora asked. “She was your friend, wasn’t she? Or were you just leaning on her because you have nobody else here? You didn’t care for her at all, the friendship was just a convenience? Is that it?”

  “You just don’t get it!” Ronnie exclaimed. “I don’t have time, okay? I don’t get time to sleep, I don’t even get time to eat, and I have a million things on my to-do list—”

  “Like finding a new place to live?” Nora asked.

  Ronnie stared at her with stricken eyes. “What?”

  “You’re leaving Tom, aren’t you?” Nora frowned.

  “Who told you?” Ronnie stepped forward, grabbing the lapels of Nora’s jacket. “Who told you that!”

  “Never mind who…” Nora pushed Ronnie off her, a little more harshly than she mean to. “It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” Ronnie said quietly.

  “Mrs. Mullally — does she know your plans?” Nora asked. “She’ll be really sad about it, I’m sure.”

  “She’s sharp,” Ronnie said. “She guessed it. She told me that I need to try harder, but she didn’t press it. She promised not to tell Tom, either.”

  “And she won’t, I’m sure,” Nora said. “But she’s right, you know. What’s happening? Why would you want to leave? Is Tom having an affair?”

  “An affair? Tom?” Ronnie laughed and shook her head. “Wish it were that simple. If he were having an affair, I’d leave him and not look back. Right now, I’m a mess of guilt and doubt.”