Mahjonged (An Alex Harris Mystery)

by Elaine Macko

  My heart stopped for a minute until she looked at me.

  “Everything’s okay. Michael just sent me home to take a shower and get a bit of rest, but I didn’t feel like going home alone. Where’s Kendall?”

  “Mom took her to school this morning. She wanted to go and Mom assured her Henry was out of danger. He is going to be fine, right?” I asked. I needed more reassuring as well.

  “Yes. Thank God.” My sister’s eyes filled and Mrs. Haddock reached over and gave her a good hug.

  “He’s a strong lad. They seem to bounce back so easily.”

  “They’re going to let him come home in a few days. He’ll have a cast.” Sam pushed a piece of hair in need of a good wash over her ears. She looked so tired. I went into the dining room and came back with a Danish and cup of coffee for her.

  “Here. Eat this.”

  “Henry in a cast.” She shook her head. “That’s going to be interesting,” Sam said between bites of Danish.

  In a few minutes everyone came into the kitchen and gathered around Sam asking for details of Henry’s recovery. My mother sat next to her daughter, holding Sam’s hand. Her family meant everything to my mother and Henry’s accident had taken a toll on both my parents.

  I let Meme have my chair while I stood leaning against the back wall, cradling my cup of tea in my hands, feeling the warmth spread through my body. It was a good day. Henry was fine and would be coming home to wreak havoc once again. But still, I felt a chill spread slowly through me as I looked around at each person in turn, much like I had on Friday night, and knew for certain standing in my parents’ kitchen was a murderer. And like Friday night, I still had no clue who that person was.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Henry. The name means Home Ruler and that’s exactly what he was, the ruler of any home he was in. And currently he was in my parents’.

  Henry got sprung a day early. Amazed at how rapidly he progressed, the doctors didn’t think they could keep him down much longer. Somehow he managed to hobble down the hall where they found him in the supply closet gathering stuff for his own practice as he told his mom. Michael had a conference in New York he couldn’t get out of and so my parents insisted Sam and the kids stay in their house. Sam and Kendall would share Sam’s old room, next to mine, while Henry had the den all to himself. He insisted he could manage the stairs with his cast, but no one wanted to see him try.

  My mother was overjoyed. Not only was her precious grandson home and safe, but she had both her daughters back under her roof. Michael would be back on Sunday and John, well, who knew when I would see my husband again. He called earlier to tell me the part, the right part, had finally arrived only to have the mechanic home with the flu.

  He and his dad and brother had seen all there was to see in the little town and they had taken to playing cards and catching up on their reading. The town had a surprisingly good library and as they saw no end in sight to their stay there, they decided to apply for library cards.

  “They took out library cards?” my grandmother asked me over an early lunch. “Honey, are you sure he’s coming back?” She looked a bit worried.

  I laughed, but only slightly. Was my husband of only a few months already tired of me and taking refuge in the Maine woods?

  Sam looked at her watch. “If we leave now, we can get a few hours in at the office before we have to go to Penelope’s funeral.”

  “Mom, are you going to the funeral this afternoon or are you staying here with Henry?” I asked.

  “Your father will watch Henry while we all go to the funeral. I hate funerals.” Mom shook her head.

  “I don’t like them too much myself, reminds me of what’s waiting for me in the not-to-distant future, but you know what they always say?”

  “No, Meme, what do they always say?” I asked around a mouthful of grilled cheese sandwich.

  “That the murderer always goes to watch. Maybe we can catch her.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but the murderer has been in my house and this house and we haven’t caught anyone.”

  “Alex, you don’t know that and keep your voice down. I don’t want Henry to hear you talking about a murderer,” my mother admonished.

  “I’ve got him doped up on pain killers. He’ll be out for hours. Maybe I should keep some hidden away for when he’s better and back to terrorizing me,” Sam said, and I was glad to see my sister back to her old flippant self.

  “Mom, I know you don’t want to admit it, but one of the women who came to my party and then here, in this very kitchen yesterday morning, is a killer.”

  “I hope you’re wrong, Alex. They all seem so nice.”

  I sighed. Maybe that was the problem. They did all seem so nice, but one of them obviously had a very dark side. Maybe I needed to start looking at them in a different way and not get so emotionally attached.

  With my mother and grandmother waiting for Henry to wake so they could hover over the poor kid, Sam and I went into the office thinking that getting a bit of work done was a good thing. Millie arrived earlier and deftly juggled several clients as we came in.

  We worked for a few hours catching up on paperwork and work orders and then needed to get ready for the funeral. Millie said Reuben had done a wonderful job and it was going to be a beautiful service. Personally, I didn’t care how good the body looked or how many flowers there were. It was a funeral and I just thought they were creepy.

  “I went to see your mother yesterday,” I said to Millie as she waited for me to sign a work order.

  “She told me. She said she still couldn’t remember anything helpful.”

  “No, unfortunately. She sure admires Doctor Katz,” I said and then felt like a jerk.

  I finished signing the papers and then looked up at Millie. She stood there, hands on hips, glaring at me.

  “I know what you’re doing, Alex. How could you think my mother would kill someone?” Millie asked as her eyes filled up with tears.

  I jumped up and went around my desk and hugged Millie. “I’m sorry. Of course your mother didn’t kill anyone. This case just has me crazy. Next I’ll be interrogating you,” I said trying to lighten the mood.

  “Better me than my mother. Leave my mom alone. Just because she had a crush on Doctor Katz when she first started working there does not mean she killed Penelope in a jealous rage. I’ll see you at the funeral.”

  Millie walked out of my office and left me standing there with my mouth open. So Judith did have her sights set on the doctor once upon a time. Hmmm. I left this thought for another time and hurried home to get ready.

  A while later I stood in the doorway of the bathroom waiting for Sam to finish her makeup so I could use the mirror, just like when we were kids.

  “Do you still have to wear black to funerals?” I asked.

  “I’m wearing my black skirt but my blouse is kind of colorful,” my sister said as she put a final coat of mascara on her lashes. “Hey? What’s wrong,” she asked me. “You’ll catch the culprit. You always do.”

  “It’s not that. It’s John.”

  “What about him? Oh, no, Alex, you’re not upset about what Meme said? She just likes to tease. You know how she is.”

  “Well, I have been kind of ignoring him. I mean, I’ve wanted him out of the picture so he wouldn’t be here to tell me to keep my nose out of things. And I didn’t even tell him about Henry.”

  Sam put down her hair brush and turned to me. “You didn’t want to worry him. He loves Henry. He would have been so upset and besides, he would want to be here to help Dad beat the texting bastard up.

  I started to laugh. “Did he really try to hit the guy?”

  “That’s what the police said when they called me this morning. Dad took a swing but missed. Not that they blamed him, mind you. I think I would have killed him myself if I got the chance.”

  My sister’s eyes welled up and I put an arm around her.

  “Henry’s fine. More than fine,” I said.

&n
bsp; “Alex, we almost lost him,” Sam said softly.

  Now I cried too. We hugged for a minute longer and then Sam turned back to the mirror, wiping the smudged mascara from under her eyes and starting over.

  “Detective Maroni said he wanted to slam the guy’s head into the wall,” Sam laughed, looking at me in the mirror.

  “Really? Detective Maroni? Wow.”

  “Come on. Get dressed. We have a funeral to go to and your husband is going to be back in a few days,” my sister assured me.

  “I know.” I smiled, warming up to the idea of John coming home.

  Sam looked at me and rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant. Your husband will be home in a few days so you don’t have much time.”

  “Time for what?

  “To catch a killer.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  From where I sat the small chapel at the mortuary looked packed to capacity. Els and Wilhelm sat up front surrounded by what I assumed were neighbors and friends of Penelope.

  I sat a few rows back. I had no desire to go and view the body and I didn’t want to view it from my seat either. I kept my eyes averted from the front of the chapel and looked around at all the mourners hoping someone had chosen to wear a sign saying I did it.

  Meme came back up the aisle and took a seat between me and Theresa.

  “She looks real nice. Good thing she got stabbed in the back. Doesn’t show at all.”

  I winced at my grandmother’s words.

  Meme stuck her head out and looked down the row at Millie. “Reuben does real good work.”

  Millie leaned forward and whispered back. “I did her makeup.”

  My sister, who sat between Millie and me, took a quick intake of breath causing a few of the mourners to turn and stare. “You did not. Millie Chapman, you are not working for me if you’re going to be touching dead people.” Sam’s skin turned white.

  “Just kidding,” Millie said. “Reuben has a makeup artist who comes in. You should see how she…”

  The service began and saved us from hearing any more ghoulish rhetoric from Millie.

  “How she what?” Meme asked, and I had to shush her.

  Several people got up throughout the service and told a story about Penelope, how they met her or something fun they did together. It sounded as if she had had a full life, though probably not as long as she would have liked.

  I heard some rustling and my sister nudged me. “What’s that?”

  I leaned to the side and saw Wilhelm unwrap something. “Bananen Schuimpjes,” I said to Sam. I recognized the wrapper. Geesh. I could now identify Dutch candy. Is this all I got out of the whole thing, a knowledge of what the Dutch ate for snacks? I needed to find a murderer.

  As I looked around I spied all the mahjong ladies. All the suspects present and accounted for. I guess for someone not to show would seem suspicious. They all sat in different places so they probably each came alone. My eyes locked with Liz and she smiled at me. I had forgotten to get in touch with an acquaintance who I thought could help Liz with a job. I mentally added that to a list in my head. Liz seemed nice, just like my mother said. They were all nice. So who did it?

  Connie sat several rows back and Bert came with her. All cozy. Had they ever been separated to begin with or was it all just an act to throw the police off the track? I didn’t know, but despite my arguments with Connie earlier in the week, I always liked her. I had talked briefly with Els before the service and she said Bert showed up the last two days and the kitchen looked really nice. What did this mean? Anything? I felt pretty sure the police were still unaware of Bert’s indiscretions with Penelope. I needed to remedy that but maybe I should wait until he finished the remodel before I let Detective Maroni in on the affair.

  I continued looking around the chapel and at one point I caught Jean’s eye and she gave me a slight nod. She was a quiet person, but had been very kind to my family since Henry’s accident. I had a feeling she liked him a lot. Henry had a way of warming up to everyone. He was such a little imp and I smiled just thinking about him and how lucky we all were. Damned texting bastard. Texting, and for that matter talking on a cell phone while driving, was the worst kind of narcissistic behavior. Why couldn’t people get it through their heads?

  Mia sat in our row, at the other end by Millie and Judith. Another nice woman. Maybe I had it all wrong, but how? Who else could have killed Penelope but someone who came to my house? And if it wasn’t one of these five suspects, then that meant it had to be one of my friends or a family member, and I didn’t want to go there, especially regarding Judith.

  And then I had a thought. What if Henry’s accident wasn’t an accident after all? What if it had something to do with the murder? Maybe someone wanted to warn me off? I had no idea, but the thought I may have been responsible for Henry getting hurt made me sick. I needed to talk to Detective Maroni and find out if they were sure texting bastard was the person who hit Henry, and if so, did they find anything suspicious about the accident? Maybe the killer hired him. The more I thought about it, the more farfetched it sounded, but I had to cover every base. Time was slipping by, as Sam pointed out, and John would be back soon and would put the brakes on my sleuthing efforts.

  I came out of my musings when everyone stood. “What’s going on?” I asked my sister in a somewhat bewildered state.

  “We’re moving on to the cemetery. What’s with you? Oh! Are you getting a vibe?”

  I looked at Sam and rolled my eyes. “No, I’m not getting a vibe. Just thinking.”

  The weather had turned quite cold in the last twenty-four hours and as we exited the church several people pulled gloves from their coat pockets. Was it time for gloves already? Clearly it was, because the minute I got out in the air, I wished I had had the foresight to stick a pair in my pocket. At least I had the coat.

  We all piled into cars for the five-minute ride out to the cemetery and then everyone gathered around the coffin, which, I noticed with a sigh, was finally closed. Sam and I stood at the very back, out of the way by a thick oak. I wanted to get a good view of all the mourners.

  The minister read a few of Penelope’s favorite passages while I let my eyes wander around the mourners. Meme, Theresa, and Mrs. Haddock huddled together, keeping each other warm. Millie, Judith and Mia stood together with another group of people I didn’t recognize. Liz and Jean gathered together and I had seen them talking earlier. Maybe they each found a new friend. Connie and Bert stood near my mother, Dorothy, and Mary-Beth. Els and Wilhelm stood right by the casket and Wilhelm kept his arm protectively around his sister. Els’ eyes were red and it seemed she had gotten over her anger at Penelope after finding the picture of mystery man.

  Before I knew it, the ceremony concluded and everyone passed by and placed a pink rose on the casket. There would be no get-together afterward as Els just didn’t feel up to it. I thought she had done a marvelous job of planning a lovely ceremony for her stepmother and could understand she just wanted to finish up with the packing and get back to her own home.

  After family and friends started to leave, Millie came back to where Sam and I stood.

  “Can I get a ride home? My mom needs to go back to the office and make sure everything is closed up for the night.”

  “Sure, Millie,” I said. “Reuben really did a very nice job.”

  Millie gave me a warm smile and I hoped it meant I was out of the dog house.

  We waited until most of the cars drove away and then started back. On our way by the casket, Sam and I placed our roses on the top.

  “I guess pink must have been her favorite color,” Sam said. “All the flowers looked beautiful.”

  “Reuben works with a florist over in Stamford. They always do wonders with their floral arrangements. Where’s Alex?” Millie asked as she and Sam stopped a distance away from me and turned back to where I still stood by the casket.

  “Alex?” Sam called. “What are you doing?”

  “Come here.” When they g
ot to my side I pointed to something caught on the contraption that lowered the casket into the ground. I couldn’t quite see what it was.

  “What’s that thing down there?” I pointed again and Sam shrugged her shoulders.

  The ground around us was muddy from all the digging and the storm. Millie bent down and took another look.

  “It looks like a piece of paper. Here, hold this, Alex.” Millie handed me her purse and started to pull off her gloves.

  “No! Wait. Don’t take your gloves off. We don’t want to get finger prints on it.”

  Sam gave me a weird look. “It’s probably just a piece of trash that blew in or someone dropped something.”

  Millie got on her knees, her black slacks now a mess. “Alex, I think it’s a picture. I can’t reach it.”

  “A picture?” I asked as my heart began to race and I could feel a chill going through me. I reached inside my purse and pulled out an empty baggie I had tossed in there from my mom’s pantry. I meant to fill it up with M&Ms from my desk at the office but had forgotten.

  Millie stood up and took off her coat, handing it to Sam. She got back down on the ground and this time reached as far as she could. The casket had been partially lowered and Millie reached several feet below ground level. She inched closer to the hole and I grabbed onto her feet to keep her from falling.

  “I got it!” Millie turned and handed it to me. I used a clean tissue from my purse and turned it over.

  I stood looking at it and I began to shake.

  “Alex? What is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Sam said. “And we’re in a graveyard. You’re scaring me.”

  Millie tried to brush the mud from her pants and looked at me. “What is it? Does it have something do to with Penelope? Do you want me to go get Reuben?”

  I turned the photo over looking for something, anything on the back, but found nothing. No inscription telling us who it was. I turned it back over so we could all get a good look at the front.

  “It’s a man,” Sam said. “And maybe a building in the background. Looks like brick.”