Gracie Greene Mystery Box Set

by Jack Parker

  The dead woman's fifth child - Theresa Scarborough - lived in New Zealand and had for years. No one in the family even knew her address, much less a phone number. It would take time to get a report on her, as well as to check on her whereabouts on Thursday. He would certainly do that, though at the moment she seemed an unlikely suspect; she'd hardly have flown in just to kill her stepmother and not visited the family.

  He picked up the next piece of paper on the stack. Loretta Logan, another of the daughters. She had indeed inherited a million dollars from her first husband, just as she'd claimed. It was sitting all nice and neat in a bank account, collecting rather a lot of interest. Her latest husband, Robert Logan, had been a doctor who'd made a very good living indeed. Shortly before his untimely death they'd paid cash for a new house, and an expensive luxury car to go with it. This being his second marriage he'd left his wife a reasonable income to live on, but his children had gotten most of his dough. No, if Mrs. Logan had killed her mother she hadn't done it for the money. There were of course other motives, and perhaps she thought he would automatically eliminate her simply because she didn't need money.

  Next up were Charlie and Karen Stubblefield. He ran a finger down the columns of numbers. His guess had been correct, Charlie had a crummy job that didn't pay very well. Karen worked as a waitress and if she got good tips she didn't report them. They lived in a working-class neighborhood and drove older model cars. They had the usual debts, mortgage and a couple of smallish loans, but more than usual expenses. Apparently their grown child had some on-going financial problem. Neither of them had a credit card, so either they didn't qualify or they were smart enough not to run up debt. Their credit rating wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either; they paid what they owed, just not always on time.

  The Stubblefields could definitely use more money. Karen was such a mousy woman, the type who might follow her husband's orders even if they were to commit murder. Yes, this couple remained high on his list.

  Jason and Cindy Wheeler could also find a use for more money. They both had reasonably good-paying jobs, but were up to their collective eyeballs in debt. They were buying an upper middle class home and drove upper middle class cars; loan payments for which were late more often than not, and some had been missed. Their credit rating sucked, and they had a couple of re-possessions on their record. Yet the accountant had noted credit-card receipts for expensive electronics, clothes, and several vacation trips. Clearly they lived beyond their means, underscoring Ken's thought that Jason felt frequent stress.

  On the other hand he was Mrs. Redmond's youngest child, and possibly the woman's clear favorite. Ken hated the thought that any of the children might have committed matricide. It did happen, but Jason seemed far more the type to ask his mother for money and meekly wait for his inheritance upon her death by natural causes. He'd also be the type to blow it all in a wild orgy of spending and then be right back where he started. And even if he did try to anesthetize his pain with a bottle, he seemed to be truly grieving that death. Cindy might be more cold-hearted about the need for the money except that she would have to know how her mother-in-law's death would affect her husband and that could be the deciding factor against murder.

  Ashley Kamp did indeed make very good money selling real estate; she'd won awards from her company for selling the most houses in a year as well as selling the most expensive house they'd ever listed. She owned (outright) a large home in a trendy neighborhood and drove a year-old SUV. He pictured the cargo area filled with For Sale signs and a box of knick-knacks to 'dress' a house for sale. She had two teenage boys so the SUV was probably full of soccer balls and football uniforms as well. Her credit rating was spotless despite the uneven nature of her paychecks.

  She'd been divorced for several years so there was no husband to check up on. As Personal Representative of Mr. Redmond's Estate she would be in the position to juggle the books and keep more for herself, though she seemed to be the upright type who would never dream of such a thing. She was a stepchild who might be thinking in terms of revenge, again hoping he'd ignore her because she didn't need the extra money. She was the methodical type who would plan the murder out in the highest detail and follow through flawlessly.

  Last up was the report on Meredith Rodgers, John Redmond's sister. She was a divorced math teacher; she made a good salary for a teacher, though that wasn't saying a lot. She lived well within her means and had an investment portfolio that might support her for a couple of years of retirement. Definitely middle-class, good credit rating, and her house was nearly paid off. The need for money wasn't obvious, but it certainly wouldn't hurt her to beef up that nest egg.

  No, Ms. Rodgers' motive would be more emotional. Perhaps she felt aggrieved that the widow had refused to give her any of her brother's personal possessions, or angry that she'd spent a lot of brother's money. Maybe she was just plain pissed off that Mrs. Redmond had treated her brother badly, at least in her own opinion. Meredith Rodgers was also high on his list, though surely she would've known how suspicious it would look for her aunt to die immediately following her visit.

  Ken stacked up the personal financial reports and picked up the summary of the probate case. It seemed the Estate itself was pretty straightforward with the widow and sister equally splitting roughly $200,000. The house, paid for in full at time of purchase, had been deeded in joint tenancy so as surviving spouse Mrs. Redmond would own it outright. Presumably her five kids would now each get $20K and one-fifth of whatever the house fetched when sold while Ms. Rodgers got $100K and nothing from the sale of her brother's house. The house was valued at $250,000 so the five kids could end up with $70K apiece; that made it closer to equal inheritances, but the Redmond heirs would still be short $30,000 each compared to the sister.

  But there was a major problem. Ken read the convoluted details of John Redmond's Trust agreement. If this situation were indicative of her work it was little wonder she was no longer practicing; the woman was careless at best and possibly downright incompetent. Though she hadn't written the Trust agreement, she had been named Trustee after the original author had died. Apparently she hadn't studied it when she took over. The Trust was intended to be funded by the income from a mortgage given for the sale of John Redmond's business, which wouldn't be paid off for 20 years and would amount to half a million dollars between principal and interest. None of the documents, including the Trust agreement, had been filed with the County Clerk's office. Yesterday's court hearing was an attempt to force Ms. Canardi to prove the Mortgage had been legally assigned to the Trust – if not, the Trust wasn't validly funded and the Mortgage and Trust funds would become Estate property.

  Roberta Redmond was the sole primary beneficiary of the Trust. As Trustee Canardi could have doled out the funds to Mrs. Redmond as she saw fit: and since her late husband knew she had a spending problem he had doubtless warned against allowing her any large sums. Even if she didn't want to shop it away it would be far nicer to have a lump sum that she could use for whatever she wanted without having to justify the expenditure to the Trustee.

  Ms. Rodgers was a residual beneficiary along with four of Robbie's five kids; Theresa Scarborough had not been included. The five shared equally any amount left at the time of Robbie's death as well as any future payments. In theory Robbie could spend every last penny and the kids would get nothing. Well, it was easy to see why both sides had been working together on that issue! Mrs. Redmond had wanted control of the money and, from what he'd heard, would probably have spent it all as soon as she got it. It didn't take a math teacher for Ms. Rodgers to figure that she would get half the money now as well as half the next 20 years' worth of payments instead of waiting for Robbie's death to get a fifth of whatever was left. The difference between $250,000 and $100,000, even if the amounts were mostly paid out over 20 years, was no contest.

  Unfortunately that didn't really get him anywhere. Ken scratched his head as he methodically thought through the possibilities. On the surface
it sounded like Ms. Rodgers had the most motive, yet she really didn't have any motive if the Trust wasn't valid. She'd get her half and spit in Robbie's eye. Did she have some reason to think that the assignment existed and the Court would declare the Trust was okay? That was the only way she'd gain by Mrs. Redmond's death. Robbie's kids would gain either way simply because they'd get their share immediately whatever happened to the Trust. It would be a lot easier to determine motive if the murder had just happened after the Court had ruled on the Trust.

  Ken left messages on Dimsdale, Allison, and Canardi's phones. In his experience lawyers were hard to talk to, never there (or so their secretaries said) when he dropped by. Canardi was doing oil and gas leases now, so she could well be out of the office doing research. Giving them a heads up would allow them to have the information he needed to hand when they returned the call. That left only one thing he could accomplish this morning.

  Meredith Rodgers opened the door almost before Ken could ring the bell. "Good morning, Lieutenant Freeman," she said cheerfully. "Gracie left me a message last night saying I could expect your visit." She stepped back to let him in the house.

  "Good morning, Ms. Rodgers," Ken replied. "I came by last night but you weren't home."

  "Friday nights are my regular domino game," she told him. "This week's game was at the Carlson's home; would you like me to give you their number so you can check that?" There was nothing facetious about her tone, indicating that she was quite prepared to prove her whereabouts.

  Ken smiled wryly. "Unfortunately you don't need an alibi for not being available when I happened to show up unannounced, Ms. Rodgers. But I do need a few minutes of your time."

  Meredith gestured toward the couch. "Please have a seat, Lieutenant. Would you like some coffee? I could use another cup!"

  Ken nodded, using the moment of eye contact to study the woman. She looked like she hadn't been up very long, and had thrown on jeans and a T-shirt and finger-combed her hair; but he didn't see any obvious signs of a hangover.

  Meredith brought the coffee and sat on the other end of the couch, pulling her bare feet up onto the couch and twisting to one side so she was at a right angle to Ken. She appeared to be totally at ease. "Please forgive me for not being terribly presentable. The game ended quite late. Ask me anything and everything you want to." She took a cautious sip of the hot liquid as if giving him a moment to determine his first question.

  Ken laughed, asking, "Did you win at dominoes?"

  Meredith returned the laugh. "Yes, I did! We only play for points, not money, so it's all in good fun. But being good at math makes it easy for me to count the spots and add up the points in my head."

  "I understand that you learned of Mrs. Redmond's death in court yesterday morning, is that right?" he asked next.

  "Yes. I could hardly believe it!" she said. "Please don't misunderstand, Lieutenant; I did not like Robbie and I'm not sorry she's dead, but I didn't kill her."

  Yeah, right; they all said that, Ken thought. "Tell me about your relationship with Mrs. Redmond." He settled back with his cup to listen to what he assumed would be a long speech.

  "She was my brother's third wife. She was a gold-digger who wanted his money and she smiled to my face while poisoning my brother's mind against me. She succeeded. She made his life miserable but he accepted it because he didn't want to be alone; he was a big boy capable of making his own decisions and I accepted that."

  "That's all?" he asked around a hastily swallowed mouthful of coffee.

  "I didn't like the relationship, but there wasn't anything I could do about it," she replied. "Had Robbie died first John would have just gone out and found another woman to marry. We were civil to each other for John's sake but we were not friends."

  "But didn't that necessarily mean you didn't see a lot of your brother?" Ken asked.

  "For the first several years I saw John somewhere besides his house. I'd drop by his office or meet him for lunch or he'd come to my house. Between my job and the grandkids and John's health problems we didn't see each other often in the last few years. I'll be honest with you Lieutenant; the relationship was strained but we did keep in touch. Honestly, I doubt Robbie knew that."

  "You blamed Mrs. Redmond for that," he stated.

  "No, Sir. I blamed Robbie for trying, but I blamed John for refusing to stand up for me. I actually felt kind of sorry for Robbie. Her life was full of selfishness and greed and I doubt she was ever really happy. Depending on your religious views she's either paying for her sins now, or has finally learned what's truly important. But Lieutenant, her death doesn't change anything regarding my brother's Estate. Her share will go to her Estate and her kids can fight over it later."

  Ken thought about that for a minute. "Some people would say you're being greedy by showing up with your hand out for some of your brother's money now that he's dead."

  Meredith regarded him quizzically. "Is it greedy to want your fair share?"

  "You pressed the issue of starting probate proceedings," Ken shot back.

  Meredith waved her hand as if dismissing some insignificant detail. "Because Robbie was busy looking for an original Will; she said she could only find a copy. Anyone with a little computer savvy could PhotoShop a fake Will. I doubt Robbie even knew how to use e-mail, but given some time I could cobble something together." She paused, with a thoughtful look on her face. "Jason's wife put together the slideshow at John's funeral; I bet she could've done it. Actually, though, I think it was at one time a valid Will. Do you know how to invalidate a Will, Lieutenant?"

  Ken looked a bit taken aback; he wasn't used to being questioned when he was doing the questioning. "Uh, make a new one that states all previous Wills are invalid?" he guessed.

  "That's one way," Meredith agreed. Her tone was not arrogant; she was teaching. "The other is for the testator to simply destroy the original document. Or he can direct someone to do it for him if he's incapacitated."

  "Ah, I get it!" Ken said. "You think your brother destroyed the original Will and Mrs. Redmond could only find the copy."

  Meredith tilted her head to one side and raised the opposite eyebrow. "Hadn't thought about that, but it's possible. I think Robbie did the destroying because she didn't want me to get one-third of the money. I think she was just stupid and greedy enough to assume that without a Will the entire Estate would go to her alone. But please notice that I've pursued the matter through the court rather than taking matters into my own hands."

  "Duly noted, Ms. Rodgers," Ken replied. "Similarly, you have pursued the matter of the Trust through the court." He intended it to be a leading question.

  Meredith didn't rise to the bait. "How else would I handle it?" she inquired mildly. "It was Robbie's lawyer who discovered the discrepancies, and it's certainly to both our advantage for it to be judged Estate property. I feel bad because I know it's not what John wanted, but I'm not going to turn it down because his original lawyer screwed things up."

  Ken made a mental note to check up on her statement that it was Robbie's lawyer who'd seen the potential problem. "But if the Trust should be valid..."

  "Then I would indeed only get a portion upon Robbie's death. Lieutenant, do you think I'm stupid enough to kill her before the court rules on the issue? And to do so on the occasion of my first visit to my brother's house in several years?"

  Ken gave a short bark of a laugh. "I agree that it would be pretty stupid of you to do so. Tell me about the family meeting Thursday evening."

  Meredith's description matched everyone else's to a T. She voluntarily mentioned the scene over the sale of her brother's things and Ms. Kamp's refusal to let her see the urn. She admitted she was angry but had cooled down upon realizing that there was nothing she could do about the situation, reiterating that she was grateful for getting any of her brother's personal possessions. She told him she hadn't known about the liquor in Robbie's coffee until Gracie told her later. She'd had the feeling that the others would be leaving shortly after she
and Gracie did, but of course couldn't verify that.

  "How would you describe Mrs. Redmond's state of mind and health?"

  She frowned a bit in concentration. "Well, she had a cold. I went over to shake hands, you know, to be polite, and she sneezed on me. I think she did it on purpose, to tell you the truth. Ummm, she did seem to be a little confused as to why we were all there; she acted like she was sure there wouldn't be a problem with the hearing. I'm guessing her lawyer assured her there wouldn't be, whether that was true or not. So she wouldn't worry."

  "You knew she hadn't been in good health since your brother's death?" Ken asked.

  "According to her she wasn't in good health before John died," Meredith remarked. "I think her health was fine. She suffered from arthritis and the occasional headache, and John often had to take her to the doctor. He'd mention it when we spoke. There's nothing she could do about either of those problems, and the pain can be horrible. Still, I always questioned if she was making it sound worse than it was."

  "Why would she do that?"

  "Oh, to generate sympathy and make him feel guilty in case he was thinking of throwing her out," she said airily.

  Ken's own grandmother had done much the same thing; any time things didn't go her way she'd come down with a headache or worse if she thought the situation warranted. "Did she have any other health problems?"

  "Not that I'm aware of," Meredith replied. "I always inquired after her health when talking to John, but didn't ask any detailed questions if you know what I mean."

  "Yes, I'm afraid I do indeed, Ms. Rodgers," Ken said. "Mrs. Redmond sounds a lot like my grandmother; she could always come up with some malady to get her out of anything that sounded vaguely like work. Headaches, cramps, allergies, sunstroke – you name it, she had it. I learned to ask grandpa if she was all right 'considering'."