by Jack Parker
"She said, she said," Cheryl threw in.
"It might've looked funny if Ms. Canardi, who wrote the new Will, didn't have a copy in her files," Loretta pointed out.
"That's it, exactly," Meredith said. "But it was still dicey. Having knowledge of the law Ms. Canardi might pull some legal fast one and avoid trouble. She'd retain control of the Trust and Robbie would have to take whatever she doled out. And you can bet Robbie didn't like that one little bit."
"So she decided to create a little insurance policy," Gracie said. "It's old-school, but it worked. She slipped a tape recorder into her purse and recorded their conversation. She got Ms. Canardi to spell out their previous agreement and then made her threat."
"Wouldn't that be risky?" Karen asked. "I mean, the tape would prove she was just as guilty of doing illegal things as Ms. Canardi was."
"I doubt that thought ever entered her mind," Ashley responded. "She was always so sure her little schemes would work."
"It might well have, too," Cindy said. "Ms. Canardi would have more to lose so she wouldn't want that conversation to come out."
"Did Robbie say she was recording it?" Karen asked.
"Not on the tape," Gracie told her.
"Then how did the woman know?" Charlie asked.
"My guess is the very nature of the conversation," Gracie said. "The fact that Robbie asked her to give details of their verbal agreement would've seemed a bit suspicious."
"Then a threat on top of that would've really made her nervous," Meredith put in.
"But where do the cookies come in?" Charlie asked.
"Here's what I think happened," Gracie said. "Robbie showed up without an appointment, saying she wanted to talk to Connie Canardi. Connie played it cool, asking about Robbie's health and offering her a cookie."
"Robbie would've made sure there weren't nuts in the cookies, thus bringing up her severe allergy," Meredith continued. "She probably also whined that she couldn't taste much because of her cold."
Gracie picked up the story. "Then Robbie turned on the recorder and got down to business. Ms. Canardi was probably already suspicious, but Robbie must have made some comment after she'd quit recording. If she was afraid the woman might worm her way out of trouble by explaining the new Will somehow, she'd have wanted the woman to know it wasn't her only threat."
Ashley nodded. "Otherwise Ms. Canardi wouldn't feel the need to commit murder. Maybe she heard the tape machine click or something."
"She realized she knew how to resolve the problem," Gracie continued. "She cheerfully offered to give Robbie some cookies to take home. She palmed a cookie and made some excuse to look around, maybe said she was looking for a bag to put them in. But really she pulled out a can of the Tung oil she used on her antique furniture and poured it on that cookie."
"Tung oil comes from the Tung nut," Meredith explained. "It would trigger the deadly anaphylactic reaction and yet with her cold Robbie wouldn't be able to smell or taste anything funny."
"And that's how it was done," Gracie summed up. "It was a plan of desperation, thrown together in a hurry. A thousand things might've gone wrong, yet it worked. And it worked so well that she nearly got away with murder."
"I'm sure she set up some unbreakable alibi for that evening," Cindy remarked.
"Maybe even for the next several days, since she couldn't be sure when Robbie would eat the cookies," Meredith agreed.
"So the hearing was important,' Charlie mused. "But what would've happened if Mother hadn't eaten the poisoned cookie on Thursday night and the judge ordered Ms. Canardi to turn over the assignment?"
"She'd have some time; the judge wouldn't expect her to hand it over Friday morning in court," Meredith told him. "She could still hope Robbie would succumb."
"And if she didn't?" Charlie continued stubbornly.
"It's impossible to know what she might've done," Ashley mused. "She could decide to give murder another try, with a better-thought-out plan. Or she could decide to go along with the blackmail, seeing no other choice."
"Oh, pooh!" Loretta said. "She wanted control of that Trust so she could rob it blind! She'd hand over the assignment toot-sweet." She paused, then ducked her head in feigned embarrassment. "Oopsie! Of course she couldn't do that since Robbie tore it up."
"But what if Ms. Canardi hadn't given Robbie the real assignment?" Gracie asked.
Comprehension dawned on the group and heads nodded in agreement.
"She gave Mother a copy," Charlie said.
"Then she's still got the real one, and the Trust is good!" Jason cried with more emotion than he'd shown all evening.
Cindy patted his arm lovingly. "No, Dear. I think I know where Gracie's going with this."
"Me, too," Ashley spoke up. "And I'm afraid you'll have to split the Trust with Meredith after all."
"Not a copy," Gracie corrected. "She'd made up a fake and forged John Redmond's signature. She had to have – remember, she wanted control of the Trust. She intended to turn that over to the court on Friday but when Robbie demanded the paper – and was acting weird, bringing up their previous agreement - she thought it was worth a shot," Gracie said.
"She probably figured she could forge another one later," Cindy said.
"Then a few minutes later Robbie did or said something that made her realize that plan wouldn't work," Meredith said.
"You don't know that for a fact," Loretta said dismissively.
Karen turned her head to look at her sister-in-law. "What do you care, Loretta? Either way the assignment is gone and the judge will rule that the Trust belongs to John's Estate. You've got plenty of money; you just don't like being upstaged."
"So, where does all this leave us?" Charlie inquired of the group in general.
"For one thing, we have to split the Trust with Meredith," Jason said angrily.
"John's Estate will have to reimburse me $5,891for the stamp collection Robbie sold immediately after his death," Meredith said casually.
"How'd you know about that?" Jason demanded.
"That nice policeman told me all about it," Meredith said with a smirk.
"And you have to split Mother's Estate with Ashley, Theresa, Loretta, and me," Charlie pointed out to Jason in a triumphant voice.
"Oh boys, it's just money!" Loretta said, waving her hand airily.
"Just?" Jason yelled.
"Unlike some people I could really use some extra money," Charlie said, glaring at his sister.
Jason leaned forward in his chair and pointed at Loretta. "You're the one that burned up Mother's Will."
As the siblings glared angrily at each other a cell phone began ringing.
"It's mine," Gracie said. She dug it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID display. Flipping it open she said, "Hey, can you give me a sec to step outside?"
The others nodded at her request for privacy, but began bickering again before Gracie made it to the front door. She expected Shawna and Cheryl – and probably Meredith as well – to follow her out before the siblings' squabbling got out of hand and they witnessed another murder, first-hand this time. Then it dawned on her that they thought it might be Kelly on the phone, calling to make up.
"Hi, Ken," she spoke into the phone. "What's up?"
"I couldn't get hold of your teacher friend, Ms. Rodgers; she must be out somewhere. Next time you see her, would you give her a message? Tell her we didn't find that assignment of Mortgage. And we found scraps of paper in the trash at Canardi's house where she'd been practicing signing John Redmond's name. You were right about her forging a false document, Kiddo. The way I understand it that means your friend gets more money."
"I'm with her now, I'll tell her," Gracie said. "She'll be glad to hear that. Now maybe she can get her brother's Estate probated and over with."
"And I can talk to you without worrying it might compromise the case. That pretty much wraps everything up, with one exception. Whatever happened to Mrs. Redmond's Will? What should I do with that picture you sent
me?"
"The Will seems to have vanished in a cloud of smoke," Gracie replied. She managed to keep mirth out of her voice, though she was smiling broadly at her pun. "Since the picture is a copy of sorts I wouldn't think it would do anyone any good. I deleted my photo."
"Works for me," Ken said. "Gracie, you do know that I never once thought you might have committed murder, don't you?"
Gracie's smile turned softer at that. "Of course I do, Ken. I completely understand that you were just doing your job. But I'm really glad it's all over with now."
"Me too, Kiddo. Now you can get on with your life. You take care – and call me sometime!"
Gracie pressed the button to end the call, and suddenly felt the sting of tears in her eyes. Ken made getting on with her life sound so easy! She dreaded going home where she'd spent so many happy hours with Kelly. But she knew it had to be done, and her mother would be there to help. She heaved a sigh and started to turn around to go back into Loretta's house.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone kneeling in the street beside her car. "Hey!" she yelled, and took off running towards the car. "Get away from there – that's my car!"
A young man stood up to face her. "Did you know you have a flat?" he asked by way of explanation.
"A flat?" she asked. She looked down to see he was right; her left-front tire was definitely low. "How did that happen?"
He bent to touch a big nail sticking up out of the rubber. "Looks like you ran over a nail," he said.
The day's tumultuous events were suddenly too much for Gracie to cope with, and the tears spilled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "It's just been a rough day."
"Then let me help," he said. "I don't know what the rest of your day's been like, but I can fix this problem for you. It'll be my good deed for the day."
On the front porch Loretta quietly told Meredith, "That's Greg, he lives across the street. He's going to law school."
"Just what we need today is another lawyer!" Cheryl said.
"Loretta, as they say, it's been real," Meredith said. "I am truly sorry all this happened. We'll get John's Estate settled soon, and I hope you'll understand if I don't keep in touch."
"But you and I could be such good friends!" Loretta protested.
Meredith was already walking down the steps so Loretta couldn't see her roll her eyes. Shawna and Cheryl followed, with a little wave to Loretta. As they got into Shawna's car Cheryl asked if they should wait on Gracie.
"Are you crazy?" Shawna inquired. "In case you haven't noticed, that guy's cute."
* * *
Copyright © 2020 by Jack Parker
