Twenty
MEG ATTENDED ECHO’S memorial service, held at a funeral home on Broadway. She stood behind the rows of folding chairs facing a closed casket. There weren’t many people filtering in to speak to an older woman standing beside the casket. Meg watched the woman, trying to figure out who she might be.
Katie walked up behind Meg, cleared her throat, and then said, “I didn’t really expect to see you here, but it’s nice that you came.”
“Hello, Katie,” Meg whispered. “I just wanted to pay my respects to her mother. I have a daughter of my own. Remember, I told you I wanted to pray for Echo’s spirit?”
“You won’t see Louise here. There’s no way she’d ride the ferry over to be reminded of this family,” Katie said.
“Who’s the woman standing by the casket?”
“That’s Grandma Wanda, my grandmother. Even though she’s not related by blood to Echo, she’s always felt sorry for her. She knows the men in the Charles family never take care of their children and grandchildren. I’ve always told her it’s not her problem, but she steps up and finds a way to make up for their neglect.” Katie glanced around behind them. She looked forward once more and smiled.
Meg tilted her head, looking at Katie. “You’re fond of your grandmother?” She found herself smiling also.
“Yes, I am, but that’s not why I’m smiling.” Katie’s voice fell to a whisper again as she moved her head closer to Meg’s. “Grandma got a deal on that casket because Echo’s not in there.”
“What?” Meg whispered back.
“Echo’s still at the morgue. The police haven’t released her body. Grandma just wanted to get this over with.”
Meg stood straighter and closed her eyes. “I see. That makes sense.” She inhaled, nodding. “You know, I’ve met your mother, Linda. I didn’t know it was her until after you and I had lunch. I’ve crocheted some bags for her to sell at the Jamaica Market.”
Katie leaned away and shook her head. “So, you know Tony, too?”
“I really don’t know either one of them, except to speak to them. We haven’t had many interactions.”
“If you speak to them, that’s way more than I do. Linda’s tried to take away any inheritance Grandma might have from Benet. She’s a gold digger. She always has been. Hmm, speak of the devil. What’s she doing here?”
Meg followed Katie’s gaze to the double doors behind them over her shoulder. She cringed, not wanting to be caught in the middle of an awkward situation.
“How’d she even know about this?” Katie huffed. She tipped her head back and dropped it forward in an aha motion. “Jeffrey Benet. I told Grandma not to mention this to him. He thinks Linda can be salvaged—such a hopeless dreamer.” She sighed. “Okay, I’ve paid my respects.” She turned to walk away. “You’re on your own with Linda. Good luck.”
Katie waved to her grandmother and then was out the side door before Meg could say goodbye. Meg chose to remain behind the folding chairs so she could get the full picture of the mourners arriving. She didn’t want to turn around again and risk the possibility of getting Linda’s attention.
Katie’s grandmother continued to greet people while standing by Echo’s casket, or somebody’s casket. Meg wasn’t sure how rent-a-casket worked. It made sense that there would need to be an autopsy on Echo; Meg knew from Tom that the time needed varied from county to county. It also made sense that the casket would need to be closed.
She glanced to her left and noticed Linda was walking down the center aisle between the chairs. She was headed with purpose toward her mother, Katie’s grandmother. The people talking with the older woman glanced at her and moved away as Linda drew closer. Meg couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were animated in their gestures. The older woman eventually grabbed Linda’s upper arm and tried to turn her toward the exit. Linda pulled away, shaking her head.
Meg heard raised voices behind her and turned to see Jeff headed down the center of the chairs toward his mother and grandmother. He put his arm around Linda’s shoulders and led her away as he patted his grandmother’s arm. The older woman put her hand to her face, shaking her head before turning to the couple approaching her and extending her hand.
When Linda and Jeff left the building, Meg walked toward the casket and Wanda Mills, Katie’s grandmother. She held out her hand and introduced herself. “I didn’t know Echo very long,” Meg said, then explained that she was staying in a beach house across the road from Charles Cove. “I only talked with her a few times, but it was enough to know she had an adventuresome spirit. I was shocked to hear about her death.”
“Thank you for your kind words. I suppose adventuresome about sums up Echo.”
“I’ve met Katie a few times also. It was a coincidence that I got to know them about the same time. You can be proud of the young woman she’s grown to be. She credits you with raising and supporting her.”
Wanda’s eyes became misty and she closed them briefly. “I appreciate you saying that. I just want Katie to know she doesn’t need to rely on a man to be who she is. My daughter, Echo, even me, we’ve all hitched our wagon to someone else to get us through life, and it doesn’t always work out. In fact, it’s been my experience that it never does.”
“The Charles family has been estranged from each other. I read Benet’s obituary,” Meg admitted.
Wanda grumbled, “He did a good job of pointing out the faults of everyone but himself, didn’t he? Tried to beat us all to the punch. His legacy is leaving us in his wake. Like a whirlwind of promises, Benet picked us up, let us blow around in the gale, and then dropped us all, bruised, gasping, and lost.” Wanda looked toward the entry doors. There were no more people coming in. “There are certainly better men than Benet Charles, but I don’t think there’s anyone any worse. He tried to justify his constant aggravation, but he was the grumpiest, most self-centered son of a bitch you could ever hope to meet. His brother, Beau, was slightly easier to handle, but tragedy followed him like a hex. Sometimes I think the family is cursed.”
Wanda crossed her arms and stood up straighter. She smiled at Meg. “I haven’t counted myself one of them for a long time, but I did want to do something for Echo.”
“I’m sure her mother appreciates it,” Meg said, fanning herself with a prayer pamphlet she had picked up on the way in.
“Louise doesn’t appreciate anything. Not anymore. She used to. There was a time we got along just fine. Now that Echo’s gone, there’s no need to maintain any contact with that group.”
Meg said goodbye and left the funeral home with more questions than answers. She wondered if anyone in the Charles family remembered why they were estranged. It could have been money, resentment about favoritism, taking sides with Benet and Beau—there were any number of reasons there were rifts. The only thing Meg knew for sure was that the members of the Charles family had nothing good to say about each other.
As she headed toward her car, Meg noticed Linda and Jeff were parked across the lot. The car was running, but Jeff was making no move to back out of the parking space. Meg could see their heads turning and shaking. If she had to guess, she’d say they were having a heated argument.
Twenty-One
ON THURSDAY, MEG delivered a stack of market bags to Tony’s booth at the Jamaica Beach Market. Linda wasn’t there. He said she wasn’t feeling well.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Meg held up a hand, shielding her eyes from the sun. Even though she had her sunglasses on, the glare from a windshield was piercing her vision.
“Step under here,” Tony said, moving aside so Meg could step under the tent.
“I saw Linda at Echo’s visitation the other day. That was tragic,” Meg said.
“Yeah, that Charles family has had a devil of a time. I can’t say they didn’t bring a lot of it on themselves though.”
Meg spotted a package of cigarettes in Tony’s shirt pocket. She’d always seen him in a T-shirt, but he wore a long-sleeved, button-down shirt with pockets
.
“I guess you’ve known all of them?” she asked.
“Uh-huh. Everybody knows them.” Tony looked down the road and spit over his shoulder. Meg winced. She still couldn’t get used to that. “Jeffrey said that house down there was pretty torn up. I can imagine it was. That’s a shame. Prime property and nobody taking advantage of it? Damn shame.”
“I guess the local police helped out with the investigations of the scene. Was Jeff there?”
“He was assigned to check out those other houses down there. I think there’re three or four of them sitting there, never finished. That’s what I’m talking about, just a waste.” Tony waved at someone. Meg turned to see a white sports car turning into the parking lot.
“Excuse me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Tony walked toward the car. Meg watched as he stooped at the waist, the driver rolling down the window to talk to him. It was a woman, her right arm bandaged in white gauze. Tony stood up straight and the car rolled out of the parking lot and onto the road. He sauntered back toward Meg, lighting a cigarette.
She recognized the car. It was the photo Hendrix had emailed her. “That’s a cool car,” Meg said when Tony got closer.
“Yeah, vintage Camaro. If you like cars, you can appreciate that. That was Rene. I think Linda said you played bridge with her.”
“Oh, we sure did. How’s she doing?”
“Not so good. Had some kind of accident and tore up her arm pretty good, had to get a bunch of stitches.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, it’s her left arm, too and she’s left-handed. She’s an artist and she can’t paint,” Tony said, shaking his head. “She would normally have some of her artwork set up here in a booth. Seems like it’s always something around here.”
Tony paid for the market bags and they talked a while longer, but he wasn’t his usual chatty self. Meg went into the grill and got an order to go; she didn’t want to spend any longer at the market, anxious to get back to the cottage and make notes.
Rene’s car was the one Jean had seen on the beach and in the carport in Charles Cove. Meg would confirm it with Jean, but if that was true, Rene’s husband was probably still involved with Echo. Or, is Tony involved with Rene?
Jeffrey was the police officer who failed to get the cigarettes left in the carport. Was he leaving evidence intentionally? He’d been an officer for a while; if it was intentional, who was he protecting? Of course, it was possible he’d picked up some of them and left others, just as Tom had.
Meg called Jean when she was back at the cottage, sitting on the deck with the tablet in her lap. “Help me remember our conversation with Rene when we played bridge, Jean. I’m almost certain the car you spotted on the beach belongs to her husband.”
Jean’s memory was good, and she remembered details Meg hadn’t noticed. “Rene really opened up when Linda excused herself to use the phone and visit the lady’s room,” she recalled. “It was my impression that Rene has something going on with Tony. It was a feeling I got from the way she talked about not mentioning his relationship with Echo. I know this is a stretch, but my thought at the time was those ladies might’ve been part of a wife-swapping scenario and things had gotten out of hand, like maybe their partner started seeing someone without their consent.”
Meg remembered Jean mentioning it briefly, but she’d decided it wasn’t feasible. “Yes, I recall you saying something.” She held the pen to her temple, thinking about the details she noticed that day with Tony. “Today was sweltering. The water’s flat, and the normal breeze we enjoy here is barely moving the palm fronds on the trees. I took some bags to the market for Tony’s booth. He wore a long-sleeve shirt.”
“I’ve seen him maybe three times, Meg,” Jean said. “He wore T-shirts and shorts each time.”
“I know. He had shorts on today, but with a long-sleeved shirt.”
“Trust your intuition. It’s usually spot on,” Jean said.
Meg thanked her for her recollections after they talked briefly about Tom’s visit and hung up. She jotted notes in the tablet but didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Tony might be hiding something under long sleeves. Drugs, cuts—what could it be?
She circled the date they played bridge with Linda and Rene. In hindsight, what wasn’t said during their conversation was interesting. They never mentioned that Linda was a Charles or that Echo was related to her.
Meg had an idea. She wanted to talk with Tony again. She’d held some bags back, thinking she would give them as Christmas gifts, but she could make more. She decided to make another trip to Jamaica Beach and deliver some more bags to Tony.
Meg pulled to a stop and parked where she could see Tony’s booth, waiting until he was seated with no customers. When she approached, he said, “Two visits in one day. You’re getting quite prolific with your skills.”
Meg laughed. “Actually I’d set these aside, but I decided I don’t want to pack them when it’s time to leave. Could you use some more?”
“Absolutely. I’ve already sold three since you left.” He opened his money box to pay Meg for the bags.
“It’s brutal outside today. There’s not even a breeze,” Meg said. “Aren’t you burning up in those long sleeves?”
Tony looked up at Meg and then smiled. “Well, I’ve been to the dermatologist. Seems this old surfer dude needs to stay out of the sun. I had to have some things cut off my arms.” He rolled his sleeves up and exposed several long rows of stitches on each of his forearms.
“I’m sorry about that. I’ve had similar visits, but it’s usually my nose or forehead they scalpel. Speedy recovery with that. Linda still under the weather?”
“She just called.” Tony held his phone up in the air. “Seems she’s feeling a little better.”
“That’s good to hear. Tell her I said hello.” Meg said goodbye and headed toward the grill. She had a craving for a slice of key lime pie.
Sitting at a table close to the edge of the deck to catch what little breeze was still coming from the water, she read her e-reader and sipped iced tea until the pie arrived.
Two women approached her, each carrying one of the market bags she’d crocheted. They introduced themselves and said they’d seen her at Tony’s booth.
One of the women, Ginny, told Meg she’d seen her playing bridge at the country club with Linda and Rene. “Are you a relative?”
“Oh no, I’m just here for a few weeks, staying at a beach cottage.” Meg explained meeting Linda and being recruited to fill in for regular players.
Ginny looked at her friend, Evie, with raised brows. “That’s funny. I wasn’t aware they were in a regular group. I haven’t seen those two at the club in years. Well, ever since the incident.” Ginny smiled and tilted her head.
“Have a seat, ladies.” Meg motioned to the empty chairs. “Would you like some pie? I just ordered some.”
“Actually,” Evie began, “that’s what we came in for. We could join you if you’re alone.”
“Absolutely.”
Evie and Ginny were a wealth of information about Linda and Rene. Ginny said Linda had been expelled from the country club due to her excessive drinking and causing scenes with the husbands of other women. “She’s always been a problem,” Evie explained. “Even in high school she had a drinking problem. It’s part of that Charles curse.”
“I’ve heard people refer to that,” Meg said. “It’s sad.”
“Yes,” Ginny agreed. “We’ve noticed Linda and Rene have been incognito since Echo Charles was killed. Linda never missed a Market. She’d never allow Tony to have a conversation with another woman without her being present.”
“Yikes. Should I be worried?”
“You’re probably okay,” Ginny said. “The only time she’s followed anyone home, they’ve been at least twenty years younger than him.”
Meg took a bite of pie and enjoyed the tangy sweetness of it. She smiled at the women as they also sampled the pie. “That’s delish,” she said. “Do you
have any theories as to who might’ve killed Echo?”
Ginny glanced at Evie. “We were just talking about that. There are so many possibilities. First of all, anyone in the family could’ve done it, especially with the recent death of Benet. That Charles family wants you to believe they’re strapped for cash, but they have property all over the island. Then, of course, there are Echo’s ties to various drug dealers from east Texas. That’s always been an issue for her.” Ginny stirred sugar into a tall glass of tea. “I heard that house was full of drugs when the cops went to investigate after her death. According to Chief Sims, they took an unidentified body out. Probably an overdose.”
“Hmm, I hadn’t heard that,” Meg said.
“Echo had several boyfriends around here,” Evie added. “It’s no secret that she and Tony have been seen together recently.”
Except for the fact that Linda and Rene weren’t regulars at the country club, they were confirming things Meg already knew.
“Have you played with Linda and Rene before?” Evie asked.
“Bridge? No. They invited me, but I don’t want to get pulled into a regular group. I really don’t enjoy the game enough to give up an afternoon on the deck watching the waves.”
Evie smiled. “There’s something you should know. Most people around here aren’t fond of Linda. She confuses them a little. It’s the alcohol for sure, but it’s also her lifestyle. It’s unconventional. She does things like go back to the club after she’s been told to stay away. It’s like she’s taunting people.”
“What does that mean, her lifestyle?” Meg asked. “Is she a nudist or something?”
Ginny laughed. “I think that’d be accepted. It’s nothing we can pass judgment on, anyway. There are plenty of people who have unconventional lifestyles. Maybe none of them are as confused by their choices as Linda, but I don’t think it’s something you can judge.”
Tony walked in for a refill on his tea, and the two women picked up their tickets and hurried toward the cashier, wishing Meg good luck with her bags. They stumbled over each other trying to get up, flustered by the sudden appearance of Tony.
Pelican Beach Murder Page 14
