The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “And if you’re wrong?” Tina asked quietly.

  Nora felt her insides clench. “I don’t want to think about that. I can’t.”

  “Nora—”

  “No. Tina, I know. I already know that it could all just be a wild goose chase. That’s why I’m not telling Grace and Hazel anything right now. But, as for me, I can’t lose Harvey. Tina, I just can’t. I came close to it once already, and I’m not letting him go without a fight.” Nora shook her head. “If I’m right and if Fred was poisoned, then I’ve got no time to waste. I need to talk to everyone who was there. I need to figure out motives and opportunities. And I have to do so now before the killer raises his or her guard. Right now, they’re probably celebrating the fact that Harvey’s been arrested.” Nora took a deep breath. “You understand, right?”

  “I do.” Tina dropped Nora’s arm and stepped back. “I’ll get to work shadowing the coroner. As soon as I can, I’m going to browbeat him into telling me the results.”

  “He may be bound by confidentiality.”

  Tina gave Nora a shark’s grin. “Oh, don’t you worry about that. I’ve got ways of making people talk.”

  Nora stared at Tina, not understanding.

  Tina laughed. “Let’s just say that hearing all of the gossip going around town is a useful thing sometimes. People have secrets they don’t want getting out.”

  “You’re going to threaten him?”

  “I’m going to persuade him.” Tina smiled. “Now go. You’ve got work to do. There’s a killer out there, and you’ve got to bring them to justice.”

  *****

  Chapter 6

  The Arms Of Another

  Not really knowing where she should head, Nora drove around the streets of Milburn, feeling dejected. Her mind was racing, but her body was slowly weakening from exhaustion. Finally, she pulled into the diner, which was still open. Tina had hired an all new staff that worked the night shift and kept the place open 24/7.

  Nora walked in to see that the place was quiet, nearly deserted. A few local men were sipping coffee in one corner and a couple was hugging each other in a booth in the back. Angela, the head of the night shift, smiled brightly at Nora as she walked in and took her usual place at the counter.

  “Good to see a familiar face,” Angela said. “How are you tonight, Nora?”

  “Then you haven’t heard the news?” Nora sighed.

  “What news?”

  Nora filled her in and Angela listened, looking shocked. Almost immediately, she poured a cup of coffee and slid a plate of apple pie in front of Nora.

  “On the house, obviously,” Angela said. “Tina’d kill me if I charged you. Especially tonight.”

  “Thanks,” Nora said with a smile. Angela’s gesture comforted her. It made her feel a little less alone in a universe that had felt very uncaring today.

  Leaning in, Angela whispered, “So, you mentioned Fred Bailey was the man killed, right?”

  Nora nodded. Listlessly, she plunged her fork into the pie and played around with a few crumbs.

  “It’s just strange, that’s all,” Angela said. “I mean, his flame, Adriana’s, here right now. And she’s with another man.”

  Nora sat up straight. “What?! Adriana? She’s here?”

  Angela put a finger to her lips and cocked her head toward the back. Nora’s heart beat a little faster. Of course! The couple in the booth! Adriana had been sitting facing away from Nora and hugging an unknown man. Nora had been in no state to even notice her. Now, with coffee and a few bites of the pie in her, she was alert and full of energy.

  Quietly, she whispered something to Angela, who nodded. Angela bent under the counter and retrieved a washcloth, then walked to the back, where she began to clean a table far more thoroughly than it needed.

  Nora waited, barely able to breathe. When she heard Adriana and the unknown man get up, she grabbed a nearby newspaper and plunged her head into it, hoping that Adriana wouldn’t recognize her. Luckily, Adriana walked right by, exited the diner and then drove off with the man.

  Nora put down the paper as Angela came back behind the counter.

  “Well?” Nora asked eagerly.

  “I couldn’t make out much,” Angela said apologetically. “They seemed to get quieter when I came near them.”

  “Oh…never mind then,” Nora said, disappointed.

  “Wait now. I did hear Adriana say something strange. She said, ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.’” Angela said. “Now why do you suppose she’d want to do anything but cry when her boyfriend just died?”

  Nora’s face was grim. “I don’t know. But I intend to ask her. Now, when did she come in? Did they enter together? Tell me everything you remember.”

  Angela furrowed her brow as she tried to recall. “I’d say she came in an hour or so ago. Derek came in afterwards. She was sitting by herself for quite some time, typing on her phone. Let’s see…she ordered coffee, pancakes and eggs. Derek came in just as I was serving her and she hugged him tight.”

  “Do you know Derek?” Nora asked. “I’ve never seen the man before.”

  “Sure, I know Derek,” Angela said. “He works at the hardware store. Sweet kid.”

  “Derek…I’ve never heard of him. What’s his last name?”

  “Harris,” Angela said. “Derek Harris. He’s my dad’s friend, Billy’s, son.”

  Nora gasped. “Harris? As in Lillian Harris? Is Derek her son?”

  “Oh, yeah. He is.” Angela nodded fervently. “Why? Does that help?”

  “More than you know,” Nora said, standing up. “Excuse me, will you? I need to get out of here.”

  “Ok.” Angela looked mystified.

  “Wait, before I go, do you know where Lillian Harris lives?”

  “Up on Walton Avenue,” Angela said. “They’re in the pale-pink house with green shutters. Nice place.”

  “Thanks, Angela.” Nora smiled brightly. “You’ve been a great help tonight.” With that, she raced out of the diner and drove off.

  Ten minutes later, she was ringing the doorbell at Lillian’s house. She didn’t really know what she expected, but she certainly didn’t expect to be greeted by a gun.

  The man holding the gun relented as he saw Nora. He was wrapped in a flannel robe and had a three-day growth of beard on him. He lowered the gun a bit and said, “Do you have any idea what time it is?!”

  “Sorry,” Nora said. “You’re Billy, right?”

  “Maybe,” Billy said. “Who are you?”

  “Nora Nathaniel. I’m Harvey Nathaniel’s wife.”

  “Ahh.” Billy looked suddenly sympathetic. He lowered the gun completely. “Sorry about scaring you. I’m just wary of burglars. We had a break-in a few months ago, you know.”

  “Here?!” Nora exclaimed. “I didn’t think we had burglars in Milburn.”

  “Neither did I. Well…” Billy shrugged. “I guess nobody’s really safe anymore, you know? Anyway. Lillian’s been in a state about Fred’s death since she got home. I can’t even imagine how you must feel, considering your husband...” Billy trailed off, shaking his head, “Well, come on in. I’ll make you something. Coffee? Or maybe something stronger?”

  “Just water is fine, thank you.” Nora entered the living room and looked around. Much like Lillian, it was practical yet feminine. A cozy, gray sofa stood by a fireplace with two matching armchairs forming a triangle with it. One wall was decorated with a large painting of waterlilies while another held a cluster of photographs. Nora wandered over to study them. Some showed Lillian receiving industry awards, others showed Lillian, Billy and their son, Derek, on various family vacations - lazing on a beach, laughing around a campfire and posing in front of the Taj Mahal. Derek grew progressively older in the photos, maturing from baby to child to teenager and then an adult. There was a photo of Derek standing in his graduation robe, face alight and arms outstretched.

  It was easy enough, Nora supposed, to show the highlights of a lifetime on one wall. But
could you ever really know the complex currents that ran through a family’s life until you’d been part of one? Did Lillian know about Derek and Adriana? Did she even suspect? Nora couldn’t help but feel that she wouldn’t approve at all if she knew.

  “He’s a handsome lad, isn’t he?” Billy’s voice boomed out from behind her.

  Nora turned with a start to see Billy holding out a glass of water.

  “I saw you admiring my Derek’s photo,” Billy said.

  “Er…yes. He is quite good-looking.”

  “The ladies are mad for him,” Billy said proudly. “Don’t know where he gets it from, personally! Lillian says he’s a spitting image of me at that age but I don’t remember looking like that.” He settled down on the sofa.

  Nora looked from Billy to Derek and nodded. She could see the resemblance. Both had a head of wavy, black hair, although Billy’s was thinning and greying. Both had hooked noses and sharp, hooded eyes. Most of all, both men had an air of danger around them. Their natures, like their hair, seemed wild and untamed.

  She could see signs of it in the living room, too, encroaching on Lillian’s neatness with mud-crusted boots standing by the door, random shirts flung here and there and a wrench lying inexplicably on top of the coffee table.

  “Lillian will be down any minute now,” Billy said. “I wouldn’t have woken her up but, as it stands, she couldn’t sleep a wink anyway. She was just lying there with the blanket pulled up over her head.”

  “I’m sorry to intrude like this,” Nora said.

  “It’s no problem,” Billy replied. “How is your husband? Is he alright?”

  Nora’s face must have looked bleak because Billy immediately changed the subject.

  “Are you sure I can’t get you something to eat?” he asked. “We’re big on midnight snacks in this house. I’ve got plenty of choices in the pantry.”

  “No, thank you,” Nora said. “To be honest, I’m still full from that big dinner we had tonight.” She shuddered. It seemed so long ago, when she and Harvey had been dressing up in front of the mirror. Nora gazed off into space, her heart hurting as she thought of how relaxed and happy Harvey had been then.

  “Excuse the mess, will you?” Billy said, misinterpreting her gaze. Nora realized she looked as though she’d been staring at the wrench on the coffee table. “I try to keep the house clean, but…well, let’s just say us men can never do it the way you women like.” Billy grinned. “Lillian’s lost her temper more than once coming back home and finding a mess.”

  “Oh, the house looks perfectly clean. Besides, I’m sure she shares the chores with you.”

  “I wouldn’t let her,” Billy said. “See, she’s the breadwinner, and I stay at home. So, it’s kind of my job. Guess I’m just not very good at it.” He gave her a grin that seemed to encourage her to disagree.

  Nora complied. “I’m sure you’re great at it, honestly. It’s not an easy thing, taking care of a home.”

  “Agreed,” Billy said. “Still, you’d think I’d get the hang of it, twenty years in.” He laughed and took a sip from a can of beer that was open on the table next to him. “Derek’s just as bad as me. Some people are colorblind, that boy’s mess-blind. He can walk into a room with a pile of clothes on the floor and not even know it’s there. Between us, we drive Lillian nuts sometimes.”

  “Does Derek still live with you?” Nora asked.

  “In the basement.” Billy nodded. “With the economy the way it is these days, he can’t really afford to move out. Besides, the basement’s like a nice little apartment all by itself. It’s a good deal for him, and it’s nice for us to have him so close by.”

  “Is he home now or at work?” Nora asked casually.

  “Oh, he works at the hardware store so he’s not there this late,” Billy said. “But I wouldn’t know whether he’s home or not. The boy slips in and slips out without us noticing or caring. Still, it’s hard sometimes. I still think of him as the little kid who’d follow me around begging me to play video games.”

  “That’s the problem,” Lillian said from the head of the stairs. “You still treat him like a little boy. He’ll never grow up if you don’t stop doing that.”

  Billy sighed, looking suddenly deflated. Lillian walked down the stairs and perched on the arm of the sofa, putting her arm around Billy. She gave Nora a sharp look. “It’s late, isn’t it?” she asked bluntly.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” Nora said. Any friendliness Lillian had shown earlier that day was now gone. She looked cold and hostile.

  “Look, Lillian, I just came here to…I don’t know. To ask you about Fred. About what he was like.”

  Lillian snorted. “Don’t lie. You came here grasping at straws. Don’t think I don’t know your reputation. You fancy yourself a detective. Well, you can’t detect your way out of this one. Harvey killed Fred in plain sight. We were all there to see it.”

  “That’s what I came to talk to you about,” Nora explained.

  “Are you hoping you can beg me for mercy? Get me to lie for you?” Lillian asked. She raised her chin. “Forget it. My mother raised me to tell the truth. I’m not giving you an ounce of mercy. I’m going to be a witness and Harvey’s going to prison. No tears on your part will change that. He’s going away forever, Nora, and the sooner you wrap your head around it, the better!”

  *****

  Chapter 7

  Putting The Host in Hostility

  Nora could feel her temper begin to bubble, but she controlled it, telling herself that Lillian was simply misunderstanding her. There was an awkward pause and Billy got up. Making a hasty excuse, he rushed out of the room and into the kitchen. Lillian shook her head as he left.

  “Billy can never stand unpleasantness. The man runs away at any sign of a fight.”

  “Poor guy must get in a lot of fights, living with you,” Nora replied. She bit her tongue. Her temper had slipped out, after all, with an unfortunately snide remark.

  Lillian’s head snapped back and she glared at Nora. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Nora shrugged. “Just that he seems very fond of you and you seem to enjoy ordering people around. I can imagine it’s a tough position.”

  Lillian turned red. “So what if I do enjoy taking charge? It’s not a moral crime, is it? A man who takes charge is called a leader, a woman is called a shrew. Not fair, is it? If I didn’t take charge, nothing would ever get done around here. I can tell you that much. I’m the reason this household runs, and I’m entitled to give my honest opinion to my husband once in a while. So don’t you come in and start passing judgment on me and my marriage, especially not when your husband is about to go to prison and you’re here to beg me to lie for him.”

  “Look, I’m not here to beg you for anything,” Nora said. “I’m definitely not here to ask you to lie. Not even for Harvey’s sake.”

  “Then why are you here?” Lillian probed.

  “Something’s not sitting right about the way Fred died,” Nora said. “Look, for his age, Fred was in good shape, wasn’t he?”

  Lillian nodded. “Sure. Fitness was very important to him. We play…used to play…tennis together twice a week at the club, and he’d also go to the gym and lift weights three times a week.”

  “Right. So he was a strong man?”

  Lillian seemed to see where Nora was going. She nodded hesitantly. “Yes. You could say that. I know he was proud of his body and wanted to stay fit till he died. I suppose having a young girlfriend also made him extra self-conscious. But that has nothing to do with his death.”

  “Doesn’t it? Do you really think that one punch can kill a man as strong as Fred?” Nora asked.

  Lillian bit her lip. “That’s for the doctors to find out. But it can happen. Harvey did hit him pretty hard.”

  But Nora could see that doubt had crept into Lillian’s mind - a mind that, until a few seconds ago, had been completely closed to any other possibilities.

  “Lillian, you and Fred knew each othe
r a long time, right?”

  “Thirty years, at least.” Lillian nodded.

  “What was he like? I only ever knew him as Harvey’s rival and, I’ll be honest, Harvey never had a very high opinion of Fred. He thought Fred was dishonest and treated employees badly.”

  Lillian’s face went blank and her breathing slowed. “What are you trying to get me to say? You want me to speak ill of a dead man? Is that it?”

  “No!” Nora was frustrated. “I want you to tell me the truth as you see it. Who was Fred? Who was he really? What made him tick?”

  “Easy. He was a man. A normal, red-blooded American man,” Lillian said. “He was a competitor, through and through. If he wanted something, he went after it till he got it. He didn’t stop. He’d wanted Nathaniel Realty for a long time, you know. He was so mad when Harvey refused to sell. Especially when he found out it wasn’t about price but, instead, that it was about…Harvey’s opinion of his character.”

  “Do you disagree with it?” Nora asked.

  “Harvey’s opinion?” Lillian hesitated. “All I know is, Fred was good to me. He was a good boss. Look…” She hesitated. “When I was young - really young, when my Derek was just a baby - Billy got fired from his job. Our family was in trouble. Big trouble. We had debts, we were fighting all the time. Things didn’t look good. Then Fred gave me a chance. I wasn’t university-educated and I didn’t have much experience with anything, but he saw something in me and he helped me. It saved me, it saved my family. I’ve been able to give Derek and Billy a good life because Fred gave me a job. He was just starting his own firm then, and he took me in. I owe him big time for that.” Lillian closed her eyes then looked up, directly at Nora. “So, did I always agree with his business practices? Maybe not. But I won’t say a word against the man.”