“I can bet the ones who heard him speak those words constantly and had no interest in checking things out are the ones who already know what he’s talking about. I don’t think his family falls into that category though. They probably believe he just went nuts and that’s why they had him committed.”
“Maybe so or they’re not as innocent as you might think,” Merlene replied.
“I have a hunch that whatever is at Harry’s house will give us the answers we need,” I told her. “Tony didn’t end up that way simply from the air he breathed. Something drove him off the deep end, and maybe it’s his conscience. Maybe he actually has one after all.”
“You could be right.”
“Are you ready to go to Manchester?” I asked.
“Manchester, England?”
“No! Manchester, Chadsworth. Of course, Manchester, England!”
“Who’s paying?”
I couldn’t believe she asked me that. “I guess it’ll be me, Merlene,” I answered.
“Well then, I’m ready to go! When do we leave?”
“We can talk about that later or tomorrow. I’m ready to go lie down.”
Merlene put Nilla in the back seat and we sat in the car.
“So, what did you come up with to get me that alone time with Tony?” I asked.
“I told Sheila I needed to use the bathroom and asked if she’d wait outside with Nilla until I was through.” Merlene had a smirk on her face.
“Good thinking,” I said.
“Thanks, partner in crime.”
15
_________________
My phone rang that night at ten past nine, right after I’d retired to bed. I didn’t recognize the deep voice on the other end.
“This is your one and only chance, old lady,” he started. “Stop now before anyone gets hurt.”
As surprising as that was, I don’t take kindly to threats, so I sat up right away. “I don’t know who you are, but you better hope I never find out because if I do, I’ll plant a bullet where the sun don’t shine. Don’t ever call this number again!” And I slammed down the phone. Nilla was sitting on the bed, looking up at me.
“It’s all right.” I caressed her little head. “Some idiot thought he could mess with your mama, but you and I don’t back down from anyone. Do we?”
I’m sure Nilla agreed. The twinkle in her eye told me she did. I tossed that joker’s so-called threat to the back of my mind and lay back down again. I have no idea when I drifted off to sleep.
* * * *
Merlene showed up while Nilla and I were having our walk early the next morning.
“Lucille, get over here!” she yelled. She was in her car with the driver’s window rolled down.
“Last night I got a death threat!” she exclaimed, when we got over to the car.
“Me too. So what?”
“You did? Why didn’t you call me?” she asked.
“Why didn’t you call me when you got yours?”
“I got a call in the middle of the night, Lucille. Something like two in the morning. I didn’t think I needed to wake you up, although I never went back to sleep myself.”
I could see the worry in her eyes.
“Wonder why he waited for that hour to call you?” I said. “I got the call around nine or so.”
“Hop in,” she said. “We gotta iron this out.”
“Nilla and I are finishing our walk. If you want to go on to the house and wait for me for a little while, go right ahead.”
“Theodore’s home?”
“He shouldn’t have left for work yet, but here are the keys, just in case.” I handed them to her.
“You’re really a piece of work, Lucille! Someone threatened our lives and your walk is more important than dealing with it?” She shook her head.
“No one’s going to back me into a corner, Merlene, and they’re certainly not going to affect the way I live my life. The fact that they’ve reached out to us tells me they’re the ones who are afraid and they should be.”
“I hear you, Lucille, but I can’t help but feel a little frightened myself. It’s not like every day I receive a death threat.” She drove off toward my house.
* * * *
“Did you tell David?” I asked Merlene after I joined her in the living room.
“No, I didn’t wanna worry him. How about you? Did you mention anything to Theodore?”
“Not a word,” I said. “I had planned on giving you a call about it after our walk.”
Nilla was drinking some water out of her bowl, then she went over to the foot of the staircase to rest.
“I think we should get the police involved, don’t you?” Merlene suggested. “That guy could be dangerous.”
“I wonder who he’s working for.” I sighed. “Even though I’m not afraid of him, I don’t want to put any of us at risk. I’ll call the Sheriff.”
Merlene seemed pleased with the answer.
While I got Cooke on the phone, she sat quietly staring at me. Before I got to tell Cooke the purpose of my call, he dropped a bomb on me.
“Just the lady I need to speak with,” he said.
“Have you found something to help the case, Sheriff?” I asked.
“Nothing yet, Lucille. I was about to call and let you know that Raymond Allister asked for you. He wants to see you right away.”
“He asked for me?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Are you sure?”
“’Course, I’m sure. He still won’t talk to anyone, not even his lawyer. Apparently, he doesn’t trust any lawyer to represent him. He said he wanted to the see the old blind lady who was at Luke Tucker’s house that day.”
I was sure Cooke was pulling my leg, still trying to find out the truth.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about, Sheriff. I told you already I wasn’t at Luke’s house, but I’ll go and see Raymond just the same.”
“You can stop the charade, Lucille. I know you were there and quite frankly, at this point, I don’t care. All I know is the man asked for you. Maybe he’s ready to talk.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” I told him. “It could be that he just wants to look into my beautiful face again.”
Shoots! I shouldn’t have said...again!
“I’m sure he does,” Cooke patronized me. “If you’ll be on your way, that’ll be good. I’ll see you at the prison.”
I hate to say I was honored to be requested by a murderer, but in a way, I was. It felt good knowing I was the one he wanted to speak with and none of them.
I decided to wait until after I saw Raymond to tell the Sheriff about the death threats.
Merlene couldn’t believe it. I made sure Nilla’s food and fresh water were in their usual spot, then Merlene and I quickly left for the county jail.
* * * *
Chadsworth County Jail was roughly a fifty minute drive from my house. It was in an area where a few commercial buildings stood, but none were in close range of the prison. I guess they didn’t allow any homes in that part of town in case criminals somehow were able to make a run for it. We drove down a lonely stretch of gravelled road before we pulled up in the front parking lot of the jail.
“Well, we’re here.” Merlene sighed. “Are you nervous?”
“Nervous about what?” I replied. Sometimes Merlene asks the dumbest questions.
“I don’t like jails,” she said.
“Neither do I. That’s why I haven’t killed anybody yet.”
We walked through the entrance and were then buzzed to a back section of the facility by a guard. It was as if they were expecting us. We were then led down a narrow hallway which extended into a much larger area. We met Sheriff Cooke at the gate waiting for us. He was standing there with another guard.
“Lucille... Merlene...” Cooke hailed.
“Sheriff...” Merlene dryly hailed back.
“Good morning, ladies. Please follow me,” the guard said. He buzzed the gate which automatically opened
and we all walked through.
We headed east along the corridor and were soon led into an area that resembled a cafeteria, but it wasn’t. Merlene was my guide the entire time, just as she was at the nursing home. Just couldn’t be too careful.
Steel tables and chairs had been placed throughout the room and a couple were occupied by prisoners and their visitors. Raymond was sitting alone in the far right corner of the room, pretty much isolated.
“We’re here, Lucille,” Cooke said as we stopped at an empty table on a curve, chiefly outside of Raymond’s view.
“Where is he?” I asked, knowingly.
“I’ll take you over there in a moment.” He then turned to Merlene. “I’m afraid you’ll have to keep me company, Merlene. We’re gonna sit right here and keep an eye on Lucille.”
“Just my luck,” she grumbled.
“So, where are we? Are we in a room or something?” I asked.
“This is a wide open area,” Cooke replied. “Allister refused to meet in any confined space. Guess he thought we’d be spying in on you two.”
“Wise man,” I said. “Will I be safe though? He is a murderer, you know.”
“He’s chained hand and foot,” Cooke said and we’ll all be right here watching you two like a hawk.”
“Good to know.”
The guard said he’d take me over, which I thought was a perfect idea since Raymond might not have been too enthused about seeing Cooke again.
“Lucille Pfiffer...” Raymond said, stoically, after I’d sat down across from him.
The guard stood several feet away. If Raymond and I spoke softly enough, there’d be no way he’d hear us unless he had radar ears.
“That’s me,” I replied. “Cooke... I mean Sheriff Cooke said you wanted to see me.”
“Yeah, that’s about right.” He peered at me through those colorless eyes of his. If they had any color, my inner sight probably wasn’t picking up as accurately as it usually was.
“I wanted to ask you a question?” he said. “A couple, actually.”
“You want to ask me a couple of questions?” I touched my chest, hoping this guy didn’t have me and Merlene drive all the way out there for nothing.
“Yeah. Do you mind?”
“It all depends on what they are. You’ll know if I mind after you ask me,” I replied.
A few moments passed, then he asked, “Are you really blind?”
“I’m not sure I like that question, mister. Can’t you tell if I’m blind or not?”
“Are you gonna answer my question, Mrs. Pfiffer?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah—what?”
“Yeah, I’m blind,” I said.
He shook his head quickly. “If I offended you, I didn’t mean to. When I saw you that day, you seemed to be managing well on your own, so I was just curious.”
“Okay. I guess I had enough years of practice. What’s the second question? You said you had two.”
“Right. Those files you had in your possession when I caught you and your friend in the house—what interest were they to you?”
“Probably the same interest they were to you,” I responded, matter-of-factly.
“I can see I’d better just come out with it.” He sighed heavily. “I asked for you, Mrs. Pfiffer, because I needed someone to talk to—someone I could trust. I figured I might be able to trust you because being blind you must know what it’s like sometimes to feel alone, like the world has dealt you a bad deck.”
I kind of understood what he meant by that deck comment.
“What I’m trying to say is that I want to talk—I need to talk before the time comes when I can’t anymore.” He lowered his voice almost to a whisper.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“Can I trust you, Mrs. Pfiffer, that if anything was to happen to me, you’d tell the truth as I’m about to tell you?”
I nodded, hopefully assuredly. “You can trust me, Raymond.”
He paused for a few more moments before the words came out. “While in here, I’ve received death threats.”
That sounded familiar. “Death threats? How? Do you have a cell phone in here? Did they call you?” I guess I couldn’t help the inherent gutsiness.
“I’ve gotten threats in the mail and by a couple of random guys in here threatening to cut my throat and some other details I don’t think you need to hear about. So, before something happens to me, I want to make sure the truth is known.” He had a hopeless look on his face. “I would’ve never talked, you know? I would’ve kept my mouth shut and rot in this stinking place just to protect my family’s good name—that’s how much it means to me. Meant, is what I should say. But I’ve had time to think and realize now that regardless if I talk or not, they’re gonna kill me anyway; I just know it. I didn’t want to share what I knew with Cleo, my wife, because the least she knew, the better.”
“I’m all ears,” I said. “You can count on me to tell your story.”
“I wanna start off by saying I was telling the truth when I told you guys I didn’t mean to kill Luke. I was angry, yeah, but I didn’t think I was angry enough to kill the man. Remember I mentioned that my family was being threatened?” he asked.
“I do.”
“Well, Luke was on to something regarding one of his family members that was killed about thirty years ago.”
“Sir Clement Tucker,” I said.
He nodded. “Right. Luke and I had been acquaintances for years. We even attended college together my freshman year before he went on to another university. There were no hard feelings between us and we’d even kept in touch.”
He seemed to be saddened by the reveries, and cleared his throat before continuing.
“He traveled back and forth to England and sometimes he’d call me to pick him up from the airport, since he usually left his car parked at home.”
“Okay.”
“Well, he’s been lobbying for the killer of Sir Clement to be brought to justice ever since the murder happened and I supported him all the way until I found out that someone in my family was connected to it. He didn’t kill anyone; but he was connected.”
“Your grandfather Tobias Simon,” I said.
He looked astonished. “How do you know that?”
“It’s a long story. I’d rather hear yours.”
“My grandpa had orchestrated all the transactions when it came to Sir Clement’s property.”
So far, this guy wasn’t telling me much of anything I didn’t know already and I was itching for him to get to the meat of the matter, but trying not to show it.
“During one of Luke’s latest visits to England, he found a letter in Sir Clement’s brother’s old house that spelled out exactly what happened to his uncle—grand-uncle, I think.” In fact, he’d made a special visit over there after a family friend came clean with him about some long-standing family secrets.”
“You’re referring to Harry James’ house?”
He nodded.
“He approached me with the letter after he asked for a ride from the airport and when he read it to me, I knew I couldn’t leave it in his hands, so I snatched at it and it ripped in two and thankfully, I got the largest part. He was able to hold on to the smaller part, but I knew if I didn’t get it back, it was still enough to cast suspicion on my grandpa and that would ruin our family’s reputation. Luke and I had a number of run-ins since that day and he threatened to tell what he knew if I didn’t return the other portion of the letter. It all happened around the time he learned about his dad’s adoption and that Harry was really his grandpa and not his grand-uncle and Alfred, who he thought was his grandpa, was his grand-uncle or some shit like that. The adoption was just a big bombshell and then to find out that Harry killed his brother Sir Clement.”
“You mean...he didn’t just play a minor part, but he actually killed him?” I was in a state of shock.
“Harry Tucker killed his brother,” he repeated. He admitted it in that letter. It e
xplains everything that happened and reveals some heavy stuff that implicates not just himself and my grandpa Tobias, but others in a scheme to get Sir Clement Tucker’s property. I guess they all thought with him dead, they all could hit the jackpot. And the way it turned out, a couple of them did. I called you here so you can get that letter; hand it over to a trustworthy official to get it fingerprinted and checked by a handwriting expert to confirm the authorship, but make a copy first. Freaky things happen. The letter is in my house.”
“In your house?” I asked.
“Yeah. Cleo and kids are away for a few days visiting her family; her father is dying. You can find the key to the house in the lampshade next to the door. Be very careful because you don’t know who might be watching.”
He’d glanced around frequently as he spoke. I could see the paranoia all over him.
“Go inside and walk straight to the back as if you’re heading toward the back door. Look to the left near the flower vase; feel at the edge of the carpet near the wall, slide your hand under about six inches in and you’ll feel an envelope. The letter’s in there,” he explained.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“I assume that tall woman will be helping you and will be the one doing the looking?”
“Yeah. Merlene.”
“She’s a good one to have in your corner.”
“Think so, huh?”
“Look, I killed a man—mistake or not and someway, somehow, I know I have to pay the price. Just how I have to pay the price, I understand that whoever contributed to the death of Sir Clement and is still alive should pay the price too. I hope Luke knows I didn’t mean to end his life. You don’t know how much that hurts me.”
He got choked up.
“I’d called him while he was away and told him I wanted to make peace and asked if we could talk,” he went on. “He agreed and told me he’d call when he was back in town and if I wanted to meet him at the airport I could. We met up and I drove out to an area where we could talk privately, so if voices were raised, no one would hear us and call the cops. Well, it didn’t work out the way I’d hoped. I tried to convince him to just let sleeping dogs lie and he was enraged that I still thought that way. He told me the truth was coming out and he was going to ruin my family. Without thinking, I picked up the wheel wrench I usually kept on the side of the driver’s seat and I hit him over the head with it a couple of times. I knew I’d killed him and when the reality of what I’d done set in, I panicked. I didn’t want to dump him in the middle of nowhere like the man was garbage, so I put his body in the trunk and brought him back home...”
Lucille Pfiffer Mystery Series Box Set Page 29
