Schuyler took a swig of beer. ‘When Binnie tried to undermine that business, it angered my mother, but she also found it incomprehensibly hurtful. She couldn’t fathom how a woman could want, quite literally, to take food out of the mouth of another woman and her child. There was a complete disconnect there that my mother never understood. The legal battles with the zoning commission and the endless back-and-forth with Binnie certainly weakened my mother’s health, but I believe she had already been ill for quite some time.’
‘Why do you think that?’ Tish asked and then thought better of it. ‘I mean, not to be nosy, of course.’
‘No, you’re not being nosy at all. When my mother was admitted to the hospital, her cancer was quite advanced. The doctor marveled over the fact that she hadn’t experienced any pain. After she passed, I cleaned out her belongings – with Celestine’s help – and discovered that she had been in considerable pain. Her bathroom cabinet and nightstand were chockablock with over-the-counter painkillers of every description.’
‘Why didn’t she see a doctor?’
‘I wondered that too until I saw the account she left in my name, with strict instructions that it should be used for the law school of my choice. I suspect – although I have no concrete evidence – that my mother feared that treatment for her illness would drain that bank account dry. She was a business owner and had no health insurance to speak of – just a life insurance policy to cover her funeral costs.’
‘I’m so sorry, Schuyler.’ Tish reached an outstretched hand toward his. He clasped it and smiled.
‘It’s OK. I miss her still, but not like I did. I also got over my hatred for Binnie Broderick. My mother never blamed anyone for her disease or for her impending death. She was happy with the life she had led and was looking forward to being reunited with my father. She was full of forgiveness – even for Binnie. She said that “anger is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.” It’s a lesson I took to heart.’
‘You’re a far better person than I am,’ Tish conceded. ‘I’m not sure I’d be able to forgive someone who did that to someone I loved.’
Schuyler shrugged. ‘What was I supposed to do? Let my hatred and anger rule my life? My mother sacrificed herself so that I could live life to the fullest. She wanted me to have a career and a family. I have the first of those and eventually, with some luck, I’ll have the second.’ His eyes slid toward Tish, who colored slightly and averted her gaze. ‘I’d have neither if I were to allow revenge to consume me. Also, harboring grudges doesn’t tend to work well with clients.’
‘That’s right. Binnie was a client of your law firm, wasn’t she? You met with her the day I moved into town.’
‘I did. That was our last meeting.’
‘What did you discuss? I mean, if you’re able to tell me, that is. I know you’re bound by attorney–client privilege.’
‘Attorney–client privilege ends when the client is murdered over something that may or may not have to do with the client’s legal dealings. I should consult with Reade before I tell you. Then again, it will all be out soon enough, I suppose,’ Schuyler reasoned, before swearing Tish to secrecy until he spoke with the police. ‘Binnie Broderick came to see me regarding her will.’
‘Was she drafting a new will or changing an old one?’
‘Changing the will she made after her husband died.’
‘Hmm, was Binnie feeling OK?’
‘Yeah, I wondered the same thing. Aside from a headache, Binnie said she was strong as an ox.’
‘I don’t suppose you can tell me about the changes she made.’ Tish smiled.
Schuyler drew a deep breath. ‘Oh, what the hay,’ he exhaled. ‘Whereas her original will favored Cordelia and John Ballantyne, the new will left everything to her church.’ Schuyler raised his eyebrows to demonstrate that he was as shocked as Tish by the modification.
‘Her church? You mean the one next door to my café?’ Tish took a drink.
‘No.’ Schuyler shook his head and took a swig of beer. ‘Some ultra-conservative church ten miles out of town. Binnie had attended services there for years.’
‘Still, a woman as shrewd as Binnie signing over her entire fortune? Are you certain they’re a church and not a cult?’
‘Ninety-nine percent positive. I raised the same issue with Binnie, who assured me they were fine, but then I did some nosing around on my own. Apparently, they’re a legitimate Born Again parish with absolutely no history of forcing members to tithe their assets to the church. Moreover, Binnie stipulated that no one from the church was to know about the will change. She was genuinely excited at the prospect of surprising her minister as well as her fellow parishioners.’
‘What about Cordelia and John Ballantyne? Were they aware they’d been written out of the will?’
‘I may have misled you with my statement about the will favoring the church. Cordelia wasn’t completely written out per se. According to the revised will, she was still due to inherit Wisteria Knolls and all of its contents. In addition, Binnie set up a trust to ensure Cordelia could continue to maintain the property. John, however, was out completely. No mention of him whatsoever in the new will.’ He drew a deep breath. ‘As to whether or not Cordelia and John were aware of the changes, I couldn’t say. However, something significant must have transpired to initiate such a drastic action. It’s difficult to imagine neither of them would be aware of any actions on their part that might have precipitated such revisions.’
Schuyler’s statement made sense, yet was there not more than a bit of a malicious streak in Binnie Broderick’s nature? ‘Do you really believe something serious incited the change?’
‘I’m not following.’ Schuyler’s face registered confusion.
‘Well, given her treatment of your mother and several other people around town, it’s clear that Binnie Broderick was quite capable of vindictiveness. I don’t think it’s unfathomable that Binnie might have changed her will over an issue you or I would have considered trivial.’
‘Can’t disagree with you there,’ he stated.
Tish nodded. ‘And what about Charlotte? Did Binnie make any provisions for her granddaughter?’
Schuyler shook his head. ‘Not a one.’
‘How odd,’ Tish mused. ‘One would think she’d want to provide for or at least contribute to her sole grandchild’s education.’
‘Most grandparents would, but we’re not talking about most grandparents. I may have made my peace with Binnie Broderick, but that still doesn’t mean I liked her much or respected her views on the world.’
Tish fiddled with the stem of her wine glass and smiled. She appreciated not just Schuyler’s integrity but his complete and utter honesty. ‘Enough about Binnie and murders. Shall we order some food?’
‘Absolutely. And then, perhaps, we can discuss more pleasant things?’
‘Why, Mr Thompson, I thought you’d never ask,’ Tish purred and took another sip of wine.
NINETEEN
After a second round of drinks and a lovely meal of pesto chicken with tomato pasta and Moroccan salmon over vegetable couscous, respectively, Schuyler and Tish made their way to the Hobson Grille parking lot where, without even realizing it, Tish had parked her car beside that of her date.
‘See? Kismet,’ Schuyler joked as he gestured toward the Matrix and his black BMW sedan.
‘I didn’t notice. Might be time for me to get glasses,’ Tish joked.
‘Nah,’ Schuyler dismissed. ‘You’re perfect.’
‘Well, I’m not sure about that, but this night certainly was perfect,’ she replied. ‘With the exception of Sheriff Reade popping by.’
‘Even that served a purpose. It got things out in the open,’ Schuyler reasoned. ‘Do you think maybe we can do this again sometime soon?’
‘I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.’
‘Me too. There’s a great farmers’ market over in Fredericksburg. You’d love it. Especially this time of year. Perhaps
we can drive over one morning, have a picnic lunch, and explore the town.’
‘And maybe, a day or so later, I can cook you dinner with the ingredients we pick up there?’
‘That would be … wow.’ He shook his head as in disbelief. ‘I’ll give you a call to check in and we’ll set things up. In the meantime, if you need me for anything, just let me know.’
‘I will,’ she promised before bestowing him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. ‘Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight.’ Schuyler walked backwards to his car, his eyes fixed on Tish the entire time.
Tish, meanwhile, played it cool. Pulling her car keys from her bag, she admitted herself into the Matrix with nary a backward glance. With a brief wave in Schuyler’s direction, she pulled the car out of the Hobson Grille parking lot and on to Main Street. From her side-view mirror, Tish could see Schuyler watching after her as she drove away.
Perfect. Tish replayed Schuyler’s words through her mind. It had been nearly twenty years since she had been on her first date with her ex-husband, Mitch. Had Mitch ever described her as perfect? Had he ever even called her beautiful?
No, he hadn’t. No one ever had. A tear trickled down Tish’s cheek. Inwardly, however, she felt like dancing a jig or getting on the phone and detailing the event to Mary Jo and Jules. Perhaps she might pull over to do just that – only Schuyler had pulled out of the restaurant parking lot just a few cars behind hers.
Knowing that Schuyler would keep straight on Main Street, Tish hung a left on to the bypass road. Round the bend past the road that led to Celestine’s house, she once again noticed a figure in the gathering twilight skulking on the grounds of Wisteria Knolls.
Tish turned on her headlights and, seeing no other car parked outside the house, pulled into the driveway. As she reached the top of the drive, the lights of the Matrix’s headlamps picked out the familiar form of Enid Kemper. Upon being discovered, Enid jumped and set off toward the woods, but Tish was too fast for her.
Springing from behind the steering wheel, she took off in chase and quickly took hold of the elderly woman’s arm. Tish’s grasp was firm but forgiving. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt the woman.
Enid gave one last tug in an effort to gain independence, but Tish’s hold upon her was unyielding. In the end, Enid’s last-ditch attempt to escape only caused the contents of her cardigan sweater pockets to go tumbling on to the driveway pavement with a dreadful clatter.
‘Silverware?’ Tish asked in astonishment as she released Enid’s arm and bent down to collect the items from the pavement.
‘Not just silverware – my silverware. My family’s silverware,’ Enid corrected. ‘It belonged to my great-grandmother, but I had to put it up for auction last year to pay for updated plumbing and a new furnace back at the house.’
‘But if you auctioned your silverware, what was Binnie doing with it?’
‘What do you think she was doing with it? She bought it.’
‘Bought it? To help you?’
‘Help me?’ Enid erupted in boisterous laughter. ‘Heavens, no. She did it to rub it in my face. Just another souvenir of the Darlingtons’ triumph. Another reminder of how her father crushed my father into the ground.’
‘And this is your revenge? Stealing back her – I mean, your – silverware?’
‘Beats murdering her, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes, well I …’ Tish frowned. ‘I suppose it does.’
‘Think about it. You can only kill someone once. But you can steal back your stuff gradually over time. It’s like gaslighting. Binnie goes looking for a fork and can’t find it. She’d never guess it’s back in my own dining room.’
This was the only time Tish had ever seen Enid smile. She felt horrible for pointing out the obvious flaw in the woman’s plan, but someone had to snap her back to reality before she got into trouble with the law. ‘But Binnie’s dead, Enid. You could take the entire set in one fell swoop and she wouldn’t know. She’s no longer here for you to gaslight.’
‘I’m not senile, you fool,’ Enid said indignantly. ‘I know Binnie’s dead. And I admit that not being able to get under her skin does take some of the fun out of the whole exercise. But dang it, even if Binnie never knew I was taking my silver back, I know. And my family’s silver will finally be back where it belongs.’ Enid’s facial expression switched from defiance to fear. ‘You won’t tell Clemson Reade, will you?’
‘Not if you put the silver back,’ Tish stipulated.
‘What? Now?’
‘No, not right now. I’m not sure when Cordelia or John might come back.’ Tish glanced worriedly over each shoulder. Indeed, Tish didn’t even wish to be caught in the driveway of Wisteria Knolls on her own, let alone with a woman whose pockets were full of antique silver. ‘Tomorrow. You keep an eye on this place, as you seem to do on a regular basis. Sneak over when no one is home, and instead of taking the rest of your family’s silver, you replace what you’ve taken.’
‘Replace it? But it’s mine.’
‘And it will be yours again once we ask Cordelia if she would kindly return it to you.’
‘What makes you think she’d do that?’ Enid posed.
‘Because Cordelia Ballantyne strikes me as being a reasonable woman.’
‘Reasonable? With that mother of hers? Not sure how that’s genetically possible.’
‘Now, I’m sure she’d work out some sort of arrangement with us.’ Tish calculated, in her mind, just how she’d approach Cordelia about ‘loaning’ the silver to Enid Kemper. The details weren’t clear, but she was certain she’d come up with something.
‘Why should I trust either of you?’ Enid clutched at the silver and brought it to her bosom. ‘The Darlingtons destroyed my family.’
‘I do understand everything Binnie has done to demean you over the years, but what her father did was decades ago. I heard it said recently that holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.’ As the words of wisdom crossed Tish’s lips, she realized the flaw in applying Schuyler’s maxim to this particular situation.
Enid was quick to point it out. ‘The other person did die.’
‘Yes, she did,’ Tish sighed, ‘but not because of your anger.’
‘No, because of someone else’s.’
Clearly the philosophy of Schuyler and Cynthia Thompson was not going to work on this fine summer evening. She decided to try a different tack. ‘Well, if you don’t want to think of yourself, at least give a thought to poor Langhorne.’
The introduction of her beloved bird to the conversation gave Enid pause. ‘Langhorne? What on earth does my sweet boy have to do with any of this?’
‘Who’s going to look after him while you’re in jail?’
‘You’re not going to tell anyone—’
‘No, but Binnie Broderick is dead and her estate will be handed down to her family. There will, inevitably, be an inventory performed to ensure the contents of the house are intact. Your silver service – or anything else that may have gone missing – will be questioned by Binnie’s attorney, the insurance company, and, eventually, the police.’
Enid’s face went gray and Tish wondered if she might have overplayed her hand. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
Enid didn’t answer. ‘How … how would Clemson know it was me?’
‘Sheriff Reade may be a small-town policeman, but he’s not stupid. The records of your auction would indicate that Binnie bought your silverware, and he’d easily learn about the animosity between the two of you.’
‘Do you think Sheriff Reade would send me to jail?’
Clemson Reade didn’t strike Tish as the type of man who’d happily incarcerate an elderly woman, and she said so. ‘I think he’d do his best to prevent that, Enid, but the law isn’t entirely in his hands. He has to answer to laws of Virginia, where I’m pretty sure burglary is considered a felony. Also, if Binnie’s killer still hadn’t been apprehended by then, you’d probably be added to the sus
pect list.’
Enid frowned. ‘Langhorne doesn’t take kindly to strangers.’
‘No, and he shouldn’t have to. That conure loves you,’ Tish stated, glad that, this once, she used the correct ornithological term. ‘You’re his family.’
‘And he’s mine.’ A tear trickled down Enid’s cheek. ‘I’m not sure what I’d do without him.’
‘Then don’t find out.’ Tish placed a consoling arm upon the woman’s shoulder. ‘Put the silver back tomorrow and then we’ll come up with a proper time at which we might be able to talk to Cordelia about it. OK?’
Enid nodded. ‘And the library? Will I be able to bring Langhorne there again?’
Tish recalled that both Roberta Dutton’s and Daryl Dufour’s reactions to Langhorne had been positive. ‘You can ask them, and I’m fairly certain they’d say yes. But for now, how about one step at a time, huh?’
Enid nodded and headed off toward the woods. ‘Goodnight,’ she called over one shoulder before disappearing. Considering the woman had never once in the past few weeks greeted Tish with a hello, the caterer viewed the gesture as progress.
Climbing back into the driver’s seat of the Matrix, the engine still running, Tish left Wisteria Knolls as quickly as possible and headed straight for the café.
As she pulled into the parking lot, her driver’s side window rolled down to catch the evening breeze, she was surprised by the sound of loud music. Spying only Mary Jo’s SUV and Jules’s Mini Cooper in the parking lot, she wondered if the pair had forgotten about tomorrow’s sandwiches and had, instead, decided to throw a party to celebrate her date.
After shifting into park, closing the window, and taking the key out of the ignition, Tish walked up the worn wooden steps to the front screen door and opened it. Inside, Mary Jo was in the kitchen area sipping wine and smearing pimento cheese on a platter of buttermilk biscuits, while Jules danced and twirled to The Smiths’ ‘This Charming Man,’ while simultaneously sprinkling a garnish of chopped cilantro over a tray of Rudyard Kipling hummus-stuffed pitas.
‘This is quite the jolly scene,’ she remarked, relieved to see that the pair had made great progress. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people so happy to make sandwiches. You put the elves to shame.’
Cookin' the Books Page 17
