“I see,” Elsa-May nodded. “Crystals can have other crystals inside them?”
“That’s right. It happened millions of years ago when the molten rock started to cool.”
“Interesting,” Ettie said.
Myra jumped to her feet. “You should go. It was a mistake to ask you to help.”
Ettie pushed herself to her feet. “We will help. You didn’t kill the man, so we’ll help.”
Myra’s face contorted and then she burst into tears.
Chapter 11
Ettie sat back down, stunned, and Elsa-May moved over to comfort Myra by putting her arm around her. She guided Myra back to her seat, murmuring, “There, there. It’s okay.” Elsa-May sat back down, too. “It’ll all work out. We’re praying about you.”
“Why do these things continue to happen to me? First, there was my husband who wasn’t really my husband, well he was, but he had a fake name, and then …”
Elsa-May raised her hand. “Things will work out.”
“I don’t know if they will. I can’t understand why this is happening to me. Maybe it’s Mercury retrograding. I should learn more about astrology because something’s wrong. It’s all just wrong.”
“Mercury? The same name as the poison,” Ettie said.
“Stop it, Ettie. It was only part of the name and you’re not helping. You know she’s talking about the planet, Mercury.”
Myra put her head up and sniffed. “Mercury was the Roman messenger to the gods. The planet was named after him, and I believe the chemical was named after the planet. Anyway, I wish I’d never heard of it.”
“Have you tried praying about everything?” Ettie asked.
“Prayers are not based on fact. Let’s face it, Mother.”
“Is crystal healing?” Ettie shot back. “I know where I’d rather put my trust.”
“God made the crystals. They’re from the earth and He made the universe.” Myra glared at her mother. “You’ve never understood me. Not many people do. I suppose it’s not your fault, with how you were raised and all.”
“That should make you feel even more pleased with Crowley,” Elsa-May said.
Myra frowned at her aunt. “He never understood me, he just went along with whatever I said. I don’t think that’s a true soulmate experience.”
“Maybe it is,” Elsa-May said. “He loves you no matter what. Whether you’re a crystal healer, whether you have a wellness center, or whatever you want to do.”
Myra dabbed at her eyes. “I guess that’s true. He’s always been very accepting of whatever I want. I do like to experience different things and I have an open mind. He’s supportive of me.”
“Good men are hard to find, especially when you get older,” Ettie said.
Myra laughed. “Have you been looking, Mother?”
Ettie chuckled. “No I haven’t because it seems there are no men left that are my age.”
Myra shuddered. “Thank goodness for that.”
“I agree,” Elsa-May said. “I don’t fancy living with Ettie and her new husband. Snowy and I would have to move out somewhere else, into a different home.”
Ettie suggested, “You could always stay at the house, and my new husband and I will move somewhere else.”
Elsa-May shook her head. “I don’t know what we’re doing even talking about this because it’s never going to happen.”
Ettie chuckled again. “It makes me feel young again to think about it.”
“That ship has sailed a long time ago, Mother. You’re way too old to think about men.” Myra shuddered again. “Anyway, back to the problem at hand. I’m in big trouble if more crystals come back with poison on them. If I had opened that bottle I could’ve died.”
“You never ever saw the bottle?” Elsa-May asked.
“No, never. They told me they found it hidden at the back of a shelf in my pantry.” Myra looked down at her hands in her lap.
Elsa-May said, “Tell us everything you know about the two wives and the two sons.”
“That’s a hard question. I know everything about them.”
“Start with Angelo,” Ettie said.
“I knew him before I met Ian. He was a client and then he suggested to his father that he come to me for treatment. I thought I told you that. We’re members of some of the same groups.”
“So, Ian got along better with son number one or number two?” Ettie asked.
“Well, he didn’t talk about son number two much. He mostly complained about son number one, Angelo.”
“Did Ian still get along with wife number one?” Elsa-May asked.
“Yes. He did, but not until after things calmed down from the divorce.”
“What is the son from the second marriage like?”
“Ian didn’t get on so much with Byron either at times. They were worlds apart in their views on things. Angelo and Bruno both worked in their father’s company and neither wanted him to sell it. I’d reckon it’s not so easy to work their way up the ladder if their father is not the owner of the company anymore. They both still work in the company now.”
“Yes, I could see that might be a problem for them,” Elsa-May said.
“Anyway, I’m sure Tiffany just married him for his money. That’s what Ian thinks too. Well, that’s what he thought.” Myra jumped up when the phone sounded from another room. “Excuse me, that’s the phone.”
Ettie and Elsa-May sat there in silence while Myra was gone. They couldn’t hear what Myra said on the phone, they only heard her speak in a low tone. When she came back into the room, she sat down in front of them. “That was Ian’s brother. Ian’s body has been released and the funeral is on the day after tomorrow. The reading of the will is on the day after that at Ian’s lawyer's office.”
“Are you going to his funeral?”
Myra put her fingertips to her lips. “I don’t even know what time it is. I will go if I can find out.”
“Would you like me to go with you?” Ettie asked.
Myra’s eyes glistened. “Would you?”
Elsa-May answered for Ettie, “Jah, if you’d like us to.”
“That would be good. I need some support and I don’t know when Ronald’s coming home.”
“You haven’t told him about all this business yet?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Don’t you think you should?”
“I don’t … I don’t want to alarm him. He doesn’t do well under pressure.”
That didn’t sound like the Crowley Ettie knew. “I wouldn’t say that’s right.”
“I know him better than anyone and I know he doesn’t do well under pressure. He’s changed since he left the force. Now he plays golf most days.”
“What about his private detective business? Last time we saw him he was excited about it. Didn’t he carry on with it?”
“Yes, he did. He doesn’t get much work. He’s only worked on a few cases.”
“That surprises me. I thought he would’ve got a lot of work considering the high position he reached as a police officer … detective, I should say.”
“He’s offered a lot of work, but he declines most things. Knowing him, he probably only takes on the more complicated cases. All the ones that appealed to him in some manner. He’s all about fairness and doesn’t like to see people wronged.”
“He always was a complicated man,” Ettie said looking out at the peaceful garden through the glass doors. Two birds were splashing in a birdbath, and when a larger bird came the smaller birds flew away. It always filled Ettie’s heart with happiness to watch birds at play.
“Complicated? I never thought so,” said Elsa-May.
Ettie pulled her mind back to the problem. She looked at Elsa-May while wondering what to say to comfort her daughter. If she said the wrong thing it would make Myra feel worse than she already did.
Myra sniffed. “I still can’t take it in that he’s actually gone. He had expected to pass over to the other side from his heart condition, and he knew he
had limited time. It’s so much worse to go like this, though, before his natural time. He could’ve had another few months, maybe even a year.”
“Yes, it is a shame,” Ettie said.
“Thank you. I'll feel much better if you’ll both be at the funeral.”
Ettie was pleased that Myra felt that way. There was a spark of hope for their mother-daughter relationship.
“You know Ian’s brother?”
“Yes. He had a couple of sessions with me to get over the loss of his wife. I don’t think he thought it helped, because he only had those two sessions and then he cancelled the rest. Ian introduced us.”
“How did his wife die?” Ettie asked.
“Car accident, not by poisoning. Don’t start being suspicious of him. He wouldn’t have done it.”
“Why not?”
“Because they were close, more like twins than just brothers. Thanks for coming, but I’ve got a lot to do today. I have someone coming in half an hour for an appointment and I must prepare. I’ll give you the address where the funeral will be.” Myra jumped up and scribbled something in a book and then ripped out the page and handed it to them. "I'll let you know the time as soon as I can."
Chapter 12
Myra had stopped by yesterday to inform them of the time for the service, and she told Ettie and Elsa-May that she would meet them at the funeral. They had hoped that Myra would collect them in her car, but perhaps she would give them a ride home instead. It got costly going everywhere by taxi.
Ettie stepped out of the taxi and stared at the small church. It was all white except for the arched wooden double doors and the fancy stained-glass windows. “What a pretty church.”
Elsa-May paid the driver, climbed out, and stood beside her. “It is indeed. Shall we sit at the back?”
“Jah. I’m sure Myra won’t sit at the front considering the circumstances. I don’t think Tiffany will be happy to see her here at all.”
“Nee, she won’t. I hope there isn’t a scene. What would you do if a woman you thought had murdered your husband came to his funeral?”
Ettie pushed her long bony finger into the air. “Ah, but Tiffany knows Myra didn’t do it, and her lies about Myra prove that.”
Elsa-May looked around, noticing there were other people arriving. “True, but she'd have to put on a show to make it look good. Perhaps we should talk about this at a different time?”
“Okay, you're right. Let’s find Myra and get our seats.” The two elderly sisters made their way through the tall double doors of the church and were immediately faced with the highly-polished wooden coffin standing on a raised platform at the front of the church. A large wreath of yellow roses nearly covered the top of the closed coffin.
They couldn’t see Myra anywhere, so they sat in the last pew on the right-hand side. “I wonder if we’re going to be too far at the back,” Ettie said.
“It depends how many people come.”
Ettie counted twenty rows of wooden pews. Looking toward the front of the church, to her left side were a stage and the pulpit, and to the right stood a large piano-style organ.
Elsa-May poked Ettie in the ribs. “Look, there’s the second wife, Tiffany, I’ll bet. She’s fussing around with the flowers as if she owns the place.
Ettie looked at the woman repositioning the large yellow and gold floral arrangements situated at either side of the casket. “You mean the first wife or the second wife?”
“The very last Ian had, the second.”
Ettie and Elsa-May sat back and watched people greet the woman they suspected was Tiffany. She was a small woman with platinum-blonde hair. A tall young man whispered something to Tiffany, and then they both stared at a well-dressed dark-haired woman approaching. The young man quickly took his seat.
The woman walked right up to Tiffany, and they smiled at one another and kissed each other on both cheeks.
“I’d guess that’s Maria, the first wife.”
“Did you see that, Ettie? The son from the second marriage doesn’t like wife number one. And that young man over there looking none-too-happy came in with that woman, and he sat over there.” Elsa-May nodded her head to show Ettie where she meant.
“Ah, so the dark-haired woman is Maria, and that over there is her son, Angelo.”
“Jah, and both sons don’t like the other wives.”
“Hmm. I think you’re right. Look at how different the two women are. Tiffany is blonde and small, whereas the first wife is tall with black hair.”
“Black hair going gray,” Elsa-May corrected.
“When he married her, she would’ve had black hair,” Ettie said, trying to hide the annoyance at her older sister correcting everything she said.
While more people came in and found their seats, Elsa-May whispered, “I suppose that doesn’t mean anything. I mean, why would they?”
“Why would who do what?” Ettie asked.
“If your vadder left your mudder for another woman, would you get along with her?”
“Are we still talking about the sons?”
Elsa-May nodded. “Jah.”
“That’s not a fair question because that would never happen.”
“A question can neither be fair or unfair. It’s simply a question, Ettie.”
“It might be a question, but it’s a question we might never find the answer to if we can’t get closer to these people.” Ettie crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared straight ahead.
“Maybe the divorce was traumatic and that Tiffany woman was the cause of it. You never know.”
Ettie leaned over and whispered, “We need to find out about the dynamics of all the relationships from Myra.”
“She already told us what she knows. Look at them.” Elsa-May nodded her head to the front of the church. “Are you surprised at the wives getting along?"
"Maybe they were divorced before Tiffany came into the picture.” Ettie stared at the two women. She didn’t trust Tiffany at all, not with all the lies she’d told about Myra. It was a good thing that Detective Kelly was cautious and not taking what Tiffany said too seriously. If he had, Myra might have been arrested by now.
“I don’t really know.” Elsa-May spoke absently as she watched the people filing through the doorway.
“I thought Myra would’ve been here by now. I hope she’s all right.”
“Stop fussing, Ettie. She’ll be fine.”
Ten minutes later, the ceremony started. Instead of the organ being played, music rang out through the speaker system. The two women Ettie and Elsa-May had figured were the wives sat with their respective sons at the front of the church on opposite sides of the center aisle.
After the song finished, a man got out of his seat and approached the microphone in front of the pulpit. He tapped on the microphone, and then cleared his throat. “I want to thank everybody for coming here today. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Ian’s brother, John. He was my older brother.” He paused for a moment as though he were fighting back tears, swallowed hard, and then continued, “Ian was a man of great vision. He started selling papers when he was nine …”
Elsa-May and Ettie sat and listened how Ian had started off as a paperboy, and then worked his way up in a company and then he eventually bought it, developed it, and improved it to the point that twenty years after he took it over, he sold it after it went public.
“Apart from that, he was a father, a husband, a son, and a brother.” John looked down trying to compose himself again.
“I wonder where Myra is,” Elsa-May said a little too loudly; a lady two rows in front turned around and glared at her.
Embarrassed, Ettie dug Elsa-May in the ribs and frowned at her to keep quiet.
Ian’s brother continued, “He will be missed greatly by all those who knew him. He was a philanthropist and gave his time to many—” John then looked up and stared open-mouthed, looking at the back door of the church.
Everyone turned and looked to see what had caused that re
action. It was Myra, dressed all in black. He was staring at her as she walked into the church. She found Ettie and Elsa-May and sat down with them. When Ian’s brother started talking again, everybody turned back around except for Tiffany who was still glaring at Myra.
“Someone’s not happy to see you,” Ettie whispered.
“I know.”
Then Ettie noticed Detective Kelly slip through the door and sit in the back of the church on the opposite side of the aisle from them.
Ettie dug Elsa-May in the ribs to notify her of Kelly’s arrival. Elsa-May frowned at Ettie until Ettie tossed her head in Kelly’s direction.
When John finished talking, the first son, Angelo, got up and said a few words about his father. He had a very low voice and to make it worse, he mumbled, making it hard for Ettie to understand what he said. When he sat down, a young girl got out of her seat, took the microphone and sang a song.
Myra leaned over and said to Ettie, “This was his favorite song.”
“Who’s that girl?” Ettie asked.
“One of his nieces. He often talked about what a good singer she was. Kelly’s her name.”
“You’ve met her?” Ettie asked.
“No, but he showed me her singing in a video on the Internet.”
“Oh.”
The second wife turned around and glared at Myra once more.
“She really doesn’t like you,” Ettie told Myra.
“I know. You can’t half tell. It’s a wonder she doesn’t have security throw me out.”
“Do they have security here?”
Myra rolled her eyes, and whispered, “It’s just an expression, Mother.”
“I see. I'd have thought so.”
When the song finished, an elderly minister in black robes and a white collar said a few words about Ian’s life and what a valued member of the church he'd been. Ettie looked at the crowd of people and wondered if the killer was sitting right there amongst them in one of the church pews. Detective Crowley had taught them that a murderer will often attend the funeral of the person they’ve killed. And that was most likely because the victim would have been killed by someone close to them.
Old Promises Page 6
