Murder on Sugar Hill

by Claire Sweeney

  "The only way is that she was in the solarium that night. She didn't start working here until the next day."

  "Precisely!"

  "Miss Matilda, you don't think Ann had anything to do with Buggy's death, do you?"

  "I’m starting to put the puzzle together. And the earring is a major piece. If she did kill Buggy and realized she lost the earring in the solarium that night, it would have given her a reason to set the solarium on fire."

  "Ann Bixby? Miss Matilda, I know it's a possibility that she was in the solarium that night, but it’s hard for me to believe she murdered Buggy. She is always so polite and meek. What motive did she have?"

  "The Horse and Hound?"

  "But even Carl said he didn't know what was in the will?"

  "Trixie, you are forgetting that Ann cleans Attorney Casey's office."

  "My God, that's right. Do you think she found Charley's will and read it?"

  "I think she did. And she must have been beside herself when she realized she wasn't going to be the first lady of the Horse and Hound."

  "Angry enough to give Charley an extra shot of insulin?" Trixie asked.

  "Maybe. Or maybe she told Carl what was in the will, and he gave his uncle the extra injection and later confronted Buggy in the solarium and killed him," Matilda said.

  "I find it easier to believe Carl killed Buggy than Ann."

  "I would too if John Paul hadn't found her earring in the solarium," Matilda pointed out."

  "So where do we go from here? Do we tell Sheriff Dudley?" Trixie asked.

  "Heck no. The good sheriff doesn't want anything farther to do with me. He thinks I made a fool out of him getting him to interview Carl." Matilda shook her head. "He wouldn't listen to a word I said. No, I think we go to the Horse and Hound and ask a few questions," Matilda said as she dangled the earring in front of Trixie. "We can use returning the earring as an excuse."

  "Yeah, and when did you need an excuse for being nosey?"

  "Are you with me or not?"

  "Okay, let's do this," Trixie said.

  "Smiley, hold down the fort," Matilda called as they hurried through the lobby.

  "Why are we under attack? Please Mr. Custer, I don't want to go," Smiley sang.

  "God, he sounds like a hippy," Matilda said shaking her head as she walked toward Trixie's SUV.

  "Miss Matilda, he is a hippy!"

  "I hope he's rolling cigarettes and not joints when he goes out back to smoke."

  "I wouldn't bet the farm on it, Miss Matilda," Trixie said as she pulled out of the parking lot. "Uh, you do realize that we might be confronting a person that has killed two people? Are you sure we shouldn't call Sheriff Dudley?"

  "Yes, I'm sure. If there's a way to bungle this, he's the one who could do it. I think I’ll try to talk Jack McGurin into running for sheriff after Sheriff Dudley resigns."

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  "I'm sure Carl isn't going to be pleased to see us?" Matilda said sarcastically as they walked on to the porch of The Horse and Hound.

  "You mean you, Miss Matilda. Carl has no reason to dislike me," Trixie said. "I'm very likable."

  "Meaning I'm not?"

  "Hmm," Trixie said as she opened the door.

  "God, I hate doors with cowbells," Matilda said.

  "I'll be right there's a man's voice called from the hallway beside the check-in counter."

  Matilda put her finger to her lips then leaned her head close to Trixie's ear. "No reason to warn him who's here."

  "Hello..." Carl's voice trailed off when he saw Matilda.

  "Hello," Matilda replied cheerfully. "Sorry we aren't here to rent a room," she said and smiled.

  "No, you are here to harass me. It seems to be your favorite pastime," Carl said.

  "Hello, Carl," Trixie said.

  "It hard to believe you two are related. You’re nothing like your aunt," Carl said. "You usually don't go around sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

  "How did your talk with Sheriff Dudley go yesterday?" Matilda asked.

  "I'm surprised you have the nerve to ask me that question since you’re the one that sicced him on me. I can't believe you would think I would overdose Uncle Charley or kill Buggy."

  "You might do both to keep from losing the Horse and Hound?" Matilda said.

  "Well, I didn't. I had no idea that Uncle Charley had left the inn to that drunk. He never said a word about what was in his will. And to be honest I thought, and rightfully so, that he would leave me the inn. It shows just how little he thought of me to name Buggy as the beneficiary of his estate. You see, he not only left that drunk the inn, he left him everything. I wasn't even mentioned in the will!"

  "So, when you found out you weren't, you overdosed your uncle and later killed Buggy!"

  Carl glanced at Trixie. "She's not listening to a word I say. Let me repeat. I did not know what was in the will! And if all you came here to do is to falsely accuse me of crimes I didn't commit, please leave."

  Matilda dangled Ann’s earring from her thumb and forefinger. "We came to return Ann’s earring."

  Carl stepped closer to Matilda.

  "It’s one of the pearl earrings I gave her. Hmm, she said she lost it somewhere between here and your place the night of the banquet. I think you pointed out the fact that she was wearing only one earring when we ran into you in the lobby after Buggy was murdered. That's when she realized she had lost it." Carl said holding his hand out for the earring.

  "If you don't mind, I would like to give it to Ann myself," Matilda said.

  "Okay, sure. But where did you find it? In the parking lot?"

  "No," Trixie said. "One of our parrots found it in the solarium."

  Carl looked puzzled. "But how is that possible? She was wearing only one earring when she entered the lobby. She couldn't have lost it in the solarium."

  "She could if she had entered the inn through the back door as she was following Buggy inside."

  "What! You aren't making any sense. Why would she follow Buggy into the solarium?"

  "Maybe she didn't; maybe she asked him to join her there," Matilda said.

  "But why would she?"

  "You do realize that Ann cleans Attorney Casey's office. Your uncle used Attorney Casey to draw up his last will and testament, didn’t he?" Trixie said.

  "Yes of course. He read the will to me yesterday. But what’s this all got to do with Ann?"

  "She found Charley's will and read it," Matilda said.

  Carl took a step back. "What are you saying? Now you’re accusing Ann of killing Buggy? This is insane!"

  "Is it?" Matilda said. "She lives in a shabby little one-room apartment and has to work as a chambermaid. Do you know how much we pay chambermaids? Sure you do. She dates you and sees a chance to better herself thinking that with Charley sick, you will inherit the inn. And so, if she plays her cards right, she’ll be set for life."

  "No, no she loves me. She's not after my money or the inn," Carl said.

  "That might be the case, but when she read Charley's will, she realized that you would end up with nothing. Which, of course, meant she would also end up with nothing. She would have to keep cleaning toilets for a living." Matilda continued.

  "No, no, I can't believe that of her," Carl said. He grabbed the check-in counter to steady himself.

  "Where is Ann now?" Trixie asked.

  "She's up cleaning out Charleys’ room. We need to rent it this weekend."

  "I'm going to go and have a talk with her," Matilda said. "Trixie dial my cell phone."

  "What for?"

  "I'm going to leave it on so that you can hear my conversation with Ann. That means you mustn’t speak, or she’ll know I have my phone on speaker."

  Trixie looked at Carl. "Are you okay with what Miss Matilda is planning on doing?"

  "No! Uh...Yes. I'm sure she's mistaken about Ann. She’ll deny all the crazy accusations, and when she does, I expect an apology from both of you. And frankly, I never want to
see either of you again."

  Matilda smiled. "I can live with that."

  "Okay, I'm dialing your number, Miss Matilda."

  When her phone rang, Matilda put it on speaker and placed it in the pocket of her jacket.

  "I'm off," Matilda said. She turned and headed up the stairs tapping her walking stick lightly on each step.

  "Despite knowing that Charley was dead, Matilda half expected to find him in his room as she walked down the hall. She was only halfway to Charley’s room when Ann stuck her head out the door.

  "I knew it was you the moment I heard your walking stick," Ann said. "Now what brings you to our humble establishment?" she added.

  "I just wanted to take one last look at Charley's room before it was cleaned out. You know he never made any changes to to it after he moved into the corner room when his wife died?" Matilda said.

  "Yes, he was strange that way. He wouldn’t let Carl make any changes to the Horse and Hound. Carl wanted to build onto the inn. Add some more rooms onto the back side. But Charley wouldn't hear of it," Ann said.

  "Well, now that Carl is the owner, I guess he can do whatever he wants," Matilda said as she wandered around the room and touched an old Queen Ann chair and a tin lamp, both of which brought back memories.

  "Yes, thank God for that."

  "Well, I guess Trixie will have to find a new head chambermaid. She’s going to miss you. She said you were the best chambermaid she had ever worked with," Matilda said as she turned and smiled at Ann.

  "Oh, that was nice of her to say. But to tell you the truth, I hated being a chambermaid. I always felt it was demeaning work to clean other people’s toilets and make their beds. Made me feel like a slave or at least a low-paid servant."

  "Sorry you felt that way. Trixie raved about how fast you cleaned rooms and how thorough you were."

  Ann smiled. "Yes, now I'll be able to tell my chambermaids what good work they do as I sit back and watch them work for minimum wages."

  "My, you sound bitter."

  "Yes, I'm sick and tired of people looking down at me because I don't have money," Ann said.

  "I guess you’re hoping Carl will marry you?"

  "We’ve talked about it. All we have to do is set a date," Ann said. "He wouldn't marry me while his uncle was alive. You see the old man didn't approve of Carl dating a chambermaid."

  "Oh, that's too bad. But then Charley was a stickler for maintaining the social class of his family. The Lovett family always had a lot of history in New England—going all the way back to the 1700's—or so Charley told me," Matilda said.

  "Yeah, I'm thinking there weren't a lot of chambermaids in the family tree," Ann said. "Until now."

  Matilda shrugged. "I don't know that for a fact."

  "Are you still going to clean Attorney Casey's office or are you giving up that job also?" Matilda asked.

  "Yeah, I already told you I'm tired of cleaning other people's toilets," Ann replied.

  "But he pays well, and you work at night when no one is around to bother you."

  "That's the only good thing about cleaning offices. You’re alone. You can play music as loudly as you want, and no one complains."

  "Oh, I almost forgot," Matilda said pulling the earring out of the pocket of her jacket. "Here's the earring you lost the night of the banquet."

  "You found it!" Ann said as she hurried forward and held out her hand.

  Matilda dropped the earring into her palm. "It's beautiful. I can see why you were upset about losing it."

  "Yes, Carl gave them to me. He was upset with me that night when you mentioned that one of my earrings was missing. Thanks, I'm glad you found it. In the parking lot, right? I thought it was gone forever."

  "That's the weird thing. It wasn't found in the parking lot," Matilda said

  Ann's body stiffened slightly.

  "No! Then where?"

  "It was found in the solarium," Matilda said.

  "That can't be possible. I didn't go into the solarium that night!" Ann said shaking her head. "Someone must have found it in the parking lot and left it inside the inn."

  "Really, with all the snow on the ground. It doesn't seem possible that someone would find a lost earring," Matilda said.

  "What other explanation is there?" Ann asked.

  Matilda noted a slight nervousness in her tone.

  "You visited the Solarium and lost it there," Matilda said.

  "No, I didn't have it when you saw me. And I came straight from my car."

  "Ann, if you were missing the earring when I saw you in the lobby, then you must have been in the solarium before I saw you."

  "Miss Matilda, I drove from the Horse and Hound and went straight into the lobby where I met Carl. You were standing right there."

  Matilda shook her head. "No, you saw Buggy going around to the back, and you followed him when he entered the inn through the back door. You saw him in the solarium arguing with Sheriff Dudley. You waited until the sheriff left, and then you went inside. Buggy had his back to the door and didn’t see you enter. The sight of him threw you into a rage. You grabbed a potted African violet and hit him on the back of the head. You killed Buggy!"

  "No, no. Why would I do that? I didn't even know him."

  "You already said why. You wanted to move up in Sugar Hill’s social circles. And Buggy was standing in your way."

  "What... What do you mean?"

  "You found Charley's will in Attorney Casey's office one night and read it. Suddenly, you saw your future in jeopardy! Carl wasn't going to inherit the Horse and Hound. Charley was leaving it to Buggy. That's why you killed Buggy!"

  "No, that's not true. I didn't kill Buggy." Ann said. "Please stop accusing me."

  "You also gave Charley an insulin injection while he was napping! You were afraid that he would give the inn to some charity case instead of to Carl."

  "You have no proof. You’re just grasping!"

  "There was a dark smudge on the insulin pen. It was black lipstick. You were wearing black lipstick that night at the banquet. You have a habit of touching your fingers to your lips," Matilda said.

  "There's no smeared lipstick on the insulin pen!"

  "Of course not. You’ve cleaned it since Trixie and I visited Charley."

  "You can't prove anything!" Ann said raising her voice.

  "Did you think Charley Lovett's friends were going to accept you into their circle? You, a trashy chambermaid!" Matilda pointed her finger at Ann. "Carl is never going to marry you."

  Ann's face turned red as she turned and grabbed a pair of scissors from the top of Charley's dresser.

  "What are you doing?" Matilda said as she backed up.

  "You are just like Charley Lovett. You think I'm trash. God, how I hated that man always looking down his nose at me. Yes, I gave him an injection while he was taking his nap. He didn't even notice. I thought he would never die! He just lay there day after day." She came toward Matilda with the scissors raised.

  "Can you believe he chose that drunk ski bum over his own flesh and blood?” Ann shouted. “I hit him as hard as I could with that flower pot. And I waited for him to get up, so I could hit him again. But he just lay on the floor. I knew he was dead. And I would do it again," Ann screamed as Matilda back out of the room.

  "Ann! Drop the scissors!" Carl yelled as he sprinted down the hall.

  Ann paused. She shook her head as though confused. She looked at the scissors and dropped them. They made a thumping noisy as they hit the wood floor. Confused, Ann looked down at the scissors and then at Matilda.

  "God, what have I done!" she said as a look of horror swept across her face.

  Ann glanced at Carl. "I did it for you, Carl. I couldn't let him cheat you out of the inn. I did it for you."

  "I called Sheriff Dudley," Trixie said coming up behind Carl. He's on his way."

  "It's all right. It's all right," Carl said as he motioned for Matilda to leave." He took hold of Ann's arm. "Come back inside. Let's sit for a spel
l."

  "I did it for you, Carl," Ann repeated as Matilda joined Trixie.

  "Let’s go downstairs and wait for the sheriff," Trixie said.

  "Did you and Carl hear Ann's confession?"

  "Yes, we did.

  "I feared for my life for a moment," Matilda said as they walked downstairs. "She turned maniac all of a sudden."

  "Yep, I heard. You do have a knack for bringing out the worst in people, Miss Matilda."

  "I had to get a confession. There was no real evidence against her. I thought if I got her mad, she would say something incriminating. I didn't for a moment think she would turn violent," Matilda said as she sat in one of the Queen Ann chairs in the lobby. It's lucky that Carl came to my rescue so quickly."

  "I hear a police siren," Trixie said.

  "I think this will be the first time I'm glad to see Sheriff Dudley!" Matilda said as she glanced out the front window. She took a deep breath as she saw the sheriff step out of his cruiser, take his Smokey-the-bear hat off the dashboard, and slap it against his leg before straightening it on his head.

  "God, Trixie, you would think he's coming to a photo op," Matilda said as she watched him walking toward the inn.

  "What did you tell the dispatcher, Trixie?"

  "I just said there was an altercation at the Horse and Hound Inn and to please send a patrol car!"

  "He's going to go into shock when he sees me. So be ready to catch him if he faints," Matilda said.

  Trixie shook her head. "I used to be able to tell when you were joking, but I can't anymore."

  Before Matilda could answer, the door opened.

  "You?" Sheriff Dudley exclaimed.

  "Good day to you too sheriff," Matilda said.

  "Are you here harassing Carl? I hope not." Sheriff Dudley said.

  "No, I was harassing his girlfriend, Ann Bixby. And lo and behold, she confessed to overdosing Charley and killing Buggy. Imagine that?"

  Sheriff Dudley glanced at Trixie. "Your aunt is joking, right?"

  "Nope. Both Carl and I heard Ann's confession before she grabbed a pair of scissors and tried to stab, Miss Matilda."

  Sheriff Dudley put his hand on his revolver.

  "I don't think there's going to be a shootout sheriff," Matilda said in a sarcastic tone. "Handcuffs will be sufficient. Ann is up in Charley's old room with Carl. All you have to do is read her rights to her and arrest her, all without shooting yourself in the foot, of course," Matilda said.