Sweet Taste of Revenge

by Mary Ellis

  Eric held up a hand. ‘Calm down, ma’am. We have people coming who will take care of it.’

  Carter resumed packing boxes of rice, pasta, and paper products. ‘It’s about the time. The neighbor already complained once about the smell.’

  ‘Is it all right if we wait for them in the study?’ Kate didn’t indicate who the them were.

  ‘Wait wherever you like. People come and go around here like they’re royalty. I hope Miss Lainey moves in soon. She’ll put a stop to that nonsense.’

  ‘What are we looking for in the study?’ Eric asked, once out of the kitchen.

  ‘Nothing, but I plan to set a trap for a greedy spider. If I were Judge Collier, I wouldn’t drink any tea brewed by his charming wife.’ Kate closed the study’s door, punched in Lainey’s number, and asked her to come to the house. Kate explained that she needed her to invite Marti Collier over this afternoon. If the invitation came from a private investigator or from Detective Buckley, Marti would become instantly suspicious.

  However, Lainey refused to give up happy hour with her friends unless Kate spelled everything out, down to the last piece of evidence that hopefully would be in her mother’s trash.

  ‘You think that creepy Marti Collier killed my mother?’ Lainey’s indignation surpassed Mrs Carter’s that someone so classless would dare to kill a Westin.

  ‘Yes, I do, but I’ll need help in proving it. Marti will smell something fishy if anyone other than you calls her. Tell her you have garden club materials that can only be entrusted to the vice president. Marti became the VP when she switched positions with Elizabeth Bronner. Actually, with your mom’s passing, Marti just became the new president.’ When Lainey began growling like a feral dog, Kate quickly added, ‘Or you could imply Agnes left Marti a small inheritance, which you would like to take care of before probate.’

  ‘My mother wouldn’t leave a dime to that thieving gold-digger.’

  ‘I understand, but a white lie about money will get her here for sure.’

  ‘Fine, but you’d better be right, Kate. I’m giving up half-priced martinis all because of your hunch.’ Lainey clicked off, leaving Kate dumbfounded.

  The woman was worth millions, yet she hated to miss half-price cocktails? ‘The rich definitely are different,’ she muttered to Eric.

  Her handsome boyfriend neither affirmed nor denied her assertion. Kate suspected Eric fit better into Lainey’s category than hers. But she had no time to ponder the effect of wealth on people, because Julian Buckley strolled into the room looking calm and cool in a linen suit and white shirt.

  ‘The churlish cook said I’d find you two here.’ Buckley settled in a leather chair by the window. ‘If I were Lainey Westin, I would fire that woman in a heartbeat. I don’t care how good she cooks.’

  ‘Thanks for coming so promptly, Detective,’ Kate said.

  ‘A team of forensic techs are combing through the trash, looking for a cork and the needle that might pierce through one. You’d better not be wasting taxpayer money.’ Crossing his legs, Buckley shook his finger at Kate. ‘Time for you to tell me what you discovered.’

  ‘With pleasure.’ Kate launched into an almost word-for-word recitation of Michael Preston’s research.

  ‘And you think Agnes calling Judge Collier and defrocking her in the garden club are motives for murder?’ The question revealed more than a little skepticism.

  ‘Absolutely, I do. These women believe status and social standing are everything. Agnes showed the other ladies that Marti didn’t belong because she couldn’t be trusted. That’s a big deal for a wannabe.’

  ‘Plus,’ said Eric, ‘Judge Collier was so furious with her that he took away her checkbook and credit cards except for a debit card. And he’s keeping a close eye on that one. Marti had gone into this marriage with one expectation – plenty of cash to spend. According to our Price Investigations researcher, they had a pre-nup. So all Marti will get is what she can squirrel away from the judge.’

  ‘And my mother wonders why I’m still single,’ Buckley murmured. ‘You’d better hope the techs find solid evidence in the trash. Everything else you’ve got is circumstantial.’

  ‘We understand,’ said Kate. ‘That’s why Lainey is calling Mrs Collier to request she swing by the house. She’ll use the premise of turning over garden club materials to the new president.’

  Buckley straightened in the chair. ‘You set up a sting, Miss Weller?’

  Kate couldn’t tell if he was impressed or pondering charges of interference in a police investigation. ‘I did. What do you think?’

  ‘Hey, I still think the housekeeper did it, but I’m willing to play along. What do you see as my role in your plan?’

  ‘I would like you to hide in there with a tape recorder.’ She pointed at a closet with louvered doors. ‘I wish I could hide with you, but Lainey will probably need me. So I’ll pretend I’m a paralegal from her law office settling her mother’s estate. Lainey will try to get Marti to reveal something that only the murderer would know. I prepped Lainey somewhat, but mostly she will ad-lib this.’

  They both glanced up with the sound of high heels in the hallway. Then Lainey Westin strode into the room.

  ‘Detective Buckley, I didn’t know you’d be part of my investigator’s little scheme.’

  ‘Just want to make sure the right person goes to jail.’ Buckley rose to his feet. ‘Sit here at the desk, Miss Westin. I’ll be taping the conversation from inside the closet.’ Opening the closet door, he got into position by perching on two boxes of copy paper.

  Lainey focused on Kate. ‘What do you want me to do?’

  ‘First, trade shoes with me. I want to look more professional, plus Marti and I have met before.’ Kate coiled her long hair into a bun, secured it with a butterfly clip, and grabbed a pair of huge tortoiseshell glasses from the desktop. Then she kicked her flats over to Lainey and slipped on the heiress’s high heels.

  ‘You’d better not stretch those out,’ Lainey warned. ‘They cost me four hundred dollars.’ She put on Kate’s sandals.

  ‘Thanks.’ Kate looked at the intricate straps securing the stiletto to her foot and shook her head. ‘We want to keep Marti here as long as possible in hopes the techs find what I believe is in the trash. Just follow my lead in the conversation.’

  Lainey snorted. ‘Keep talking about the money Mom left her. That should hold Marti here for hours.’

  Eric, who’d been watching for Marti’s car, gave them a signal and disappeared into the next bedroom.

  ‘Lainey, dig out anything you can find for the garden club. I’ll be poring over papers in this filing cabinet.’ Kate pulled out a stack of file folders, while Lainey sat down behind the desk.

  In no time at all, Mrs Martha Collier breezed into the room in a cloud of perfume. ‘Lainey, how are you dear? My deepest sympathy on your loss. Aren’t we ever going to have the memorial service for your dear mother?’ She sat in a chair opposite the desk without waiting to be invited.

  ‘Thank you, Marti. I’m doing all right; still making arrangements for Mom’s service and tying up loose ends to process the estate. You know how complicated these things can be.’ Lainey did an Oscar-winning job of hiding her contempt.

  ‘If there’s anything I can do to help, dear, just say the word.’

  ‘Thank you so much,’ drawled Lainey. ‘My mother was so fond of you.’

  ‘And that feeling was mutual.’ Marti swiveled her chair toward the filing cabinet. ‘Haven’t you and I met before? You look familiar.’

  Kate pulled her reading glasses farther down on her nose. ‘It’s possible, ma’am. I’m here frequently. I’m a paralegal from Mr Shaw’s office. He sent me to do a preliminary financial inventory of Mrs Westin’s assets. This will speed along the bequests, since there aren’t many.’

  ‘I’m sure you have your work cut out for you.’ Marti smiled graciously.

  ‘I do indeed. Since you were named as one of Mrs Westin’s beneficiaries, I will need yo
ur complete name, address, social security number, and a contact phone number.’

  ‘My pleasure!’ Marti slowly recited the pertinent details while Kate took her time writing them down. Twice she asked the woman to repeat herself, as though she were hard of hearing.

  ‘Great, got it,’ said Kate. ‘Now I just need the name of your bank and the routing number for your account.’

  Marti’s complexion paled. ‘Why on earth would you need that? I would be happy to take the check to my bank.’

  Kate pressed her notepad to her chest and smiled over her reading glasses. ‘There is one peculiarity with the bequest. Mrs Westin set it up to be paid in monthly installments over a course of five years.’

  The woman’s eyes twinkled as the anticipated sum expanded in her imagination. ‘Oh, that might make things … easier, but depositing a check at my bank would be no inconvenience whatsoever.’

  ‘I appreciate that, Mrs Collier, but I’m forced to follow the exact instructions in Mrs Westin’s will. I promise your personal information will be quite secure. You needn’t worry about identity theft with the Shaw legal team.’

  Lainey cleared her throat and picked up where Kate had left off. ‘You know how … eccentric Mom could be at times. She was very old-fashioned and lived in constant fear of leaving the household cash-poor, even though she could get a cash advance from any one of her credit cards. I’m afraid that Mom’s paranoia carried over into her estate. Were you aware that my father’s divorce settlement has been doled out in installments?’

  ‘No, I was not.’ From Marti’s expression, the plight of Robert Westin was of little concern to her. ‘I’m sure Agnes set it up that way to make it easy for me. But I don’t have an account in my own name, only a joint checking account with my husband, the judge.’ She imbued the last word with special emphasis. ‘And since I’m the named beneficiary, the funds should be deposited into an account that’s all mine.’

  ‘I understand perfectly, ma’am.’ Kate made notes on her ledger. ‘Why don’t you open a new account tomorrow and furnish me with the details?’

  Marti’s expression resembled a weasel’s. ‘Or perhaps you could call your boss, Mr Shaw, and ask for his advice regarding a matter involving Judge Collier’s wife.’

  Kate’s head reared back as though startled. ‘Dear me, no. I’m the newest paralegal in the firm. I could never question a senior partner’s judgement. You’ll have to make that phone call yourself.’

  ‘Let’s move on to other matters.’ Lainey thumped a stack of folders and a leather-bound journal on the desk. ‘This is the garden club business that I’ve collected so far. Mom’s agenda for the next meeting is in the top folder.’

  Marti gazed at the materials as though confused. ‘You want me to take all that?’

  ‘Of course, as the VP you move up to the rank of president. You will chair the next meeting.’

  ‘But I’d rather go back to being the treasurer.’

  ‘You’ll have to take that up with Mrs Bronner. For now, I prefer to separate garden club business from my mother’s estate.’ Lainey pushed the stack across the desk toward Marti.

  ‘Anything to speed probate along.’ Marti moved the stack of folders to her lap. ‘Assuming I’m able to open a new bank account tomorrow, when can I expect my first check?’

  ‘My mother’s will was cut-and-dried, but we still have to wait for a probate judge to release the funds for distribution. Although as executrix, I could write your first installment out of her checking account.’ Lainey tapped a pen on the desk. ‘But there is the matter of my mother’s murder.’

  ‘What does that have to do with anything?’ Marti almost levitated from her chair.

  ‘Oh, a great deal,’ chimed Kate. ‘The senior law partner doesn’t want funds distributed until the police determine who killed Mrs Westin. You know the law – a criminal can’t financially benefit from his or her crime. What if Miss Westin inherits the bulk of the estate, but the police later charge her with murder? She could already be on a spending spree in the Maldives.’

  ‘You impudent little—’ Lainey’s outrage sounded as real as it gets.

  ‘I beg your pardon, Miss Westin. I wasn’t implying anything, merely providing an example.’

  Lainey threw her hands in the air. ‘The cops already have Mom’s housekeeper in custody. Why don’t they just charge her and let the rest of us get on with our lives?’

  Kate glanced at the doorway and dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘I heard Mr Shaw talking to his friend in the District Attorney’s office. Luisa Gonzalez confessed to buying the rat poison, but insisted she only killed rats with the stuff.’

  ‘Like there really are rats in this neighborhood,’ Lainey sneered.

  ‘Unfortunately this house sits close to the bay,’ Kate said sagely. ‘There have been rats near the waterfront since the beginning of time.’

  Lainey angled another frown in the paralegal’s direction. ‘Regardless, if Luisa confessed to buying and using the poison, I don’t know why the facts aren’t presented to the Grand Jury.’

  ‘Oh, they will be, but Mr Shaw said the police can’t find the container of poison. Luisa insisted she put it on the top shelf in the potting shed, because that’s where she spotted a rat.’

  ‘Did anyone even look?’ asked Marti.

  ‘Of course they did,’ Lainey explained. ‘I was here when the police searched the shed, the garage, the kitchen, the cellar – all the logical places.’

  ‘Did they bother to search the illogical places, like the housekeeper’s room?’ screeched Marti.

  ‘I don’t know.’ Lainey arched an eyebrow. ‘I’ll check with Detective Buckley when I talk to him this evening. Right now, I want to make sure you have everything you need to prepare for the next garden club meeting.’

  ‘Sweet mother of pearl!’ Marti jumped to her feet. ‘Your housekeeper is in jail, right? This house will soon be yours. So why don’t the three of us search Luisa’s room?’

  The pseudo-paralegal shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Isn’t that an invasion of privacy? Even housekeepers have rights.’

  Marti leveled a glare at Kate that could peel wallpaper from the wall. Then she addressed Lainey. ‘This is your mother we’re talking about. I don’t give a fig about that woman’s rights. Let’s see if that ingrate has something to hide.’

  ‘You’re absolutely right, Mrs Collier.’ Lainey jumped up and followed Marti out the door and down the hallway.

  ‘On behalf of the Shaw and Associates Law Firm, I’m coming too,’ said Kate, tottering behind on her high heels. How Lainey managed to walk gracefully was beyond her.

  In the austere bedroom of Luisa Gonzalez, Lainey rummaged through bureau drawers and dug beneath pajamas and sweaters.

  Kate dropped to her knees and stuck her head under the bed. ‘I see only dust bunnies,’ she called, her head behind the dust ruffle.

  ‘You two would make terrible investigators. The logical spot would be the closet.’ Marti pushed the clothes over to one side. Then, arching up on tiptoes, she pulled boxes and bags of greeting cards down from the shelf, starting in the exact corner where the container had been found by one of Buckley’s officers.

  Kate scrambled to her feet. ‘Find anything interesting, Mrs Collier?’

  ‘Don’t just stand there. Bring me a chair to stand on.’

  Lainey moved a chair to the closet and helped Marti step up. Shoving clothes aside, Marti lifted a stack of shoeboxes from the shelf and handed them to Lainey. ‘Let’s look in these. You, paralegal, check those boxes on the floor,’ Marti ordered.

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Kate dutifully opened each box and inspected the contents. ‘Nothing in this box but letters from her sisters in Matamoros.’

  ‘Then check the others,’ Marti barked as she pulled off lids and emptied contents on the bedspread.

  Lainey stepped back to watch. When Marti had dumped the last box of receipts and cancelled checks, Lainey murmured in a low voice. ‘The box you’re
looking for isn’t here.’

  ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

  ‘The shoebox where you hid the rat poison. The police took the container in as evidence.’

  Marti’s expression was a cross between confusion and rage. ‘You said the police couldn’t find the poison.’

  Lainey smiled. ‘I wanted to see your reaction. Sure enough, you went straight to the corner where you had framed the housekeeper.’

  ‘Have you lost your mind? A closet is the logical spot where people hide things. My looking here doesn’t prove I had anything to do with this. Why on earth would I kill Agnes? She was my best friend.’

  ‘Cut the charade, Martha! You weren’t Mom’s friend. You resented her because she was a snob.’

  Marti moved closer until she was in Lainey’s face. ‘If I killed all the snobs in the garden club, there would be no one left but me.’

  ‘You didn’t want to kill all, only my mother because she told the judge you were a thief. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time your sticky fingers got you in trouble.’

  Marti pushed Lainey so hard she lost her balance, landing in a heap on the area rug. ‘You turned out exactly like her, didn’t you? Despite the fact you couldn’t stand to be in the same room with Agnes.’

  ‘Ladies, ladies, let’s please keep the discussion civilized.’ Kate reached down and yanked Lainey to her feet. Over Marti’s shoulder, Kate spotted Eric in the doorway along with a police forensic expert. Eric was grinning, while the tech held up a quart-size evidence bag.

  ‘You’re right, Lainey,’ said Marti. ‘I hated your mother. Taking away my treasurer duties was one thing, but Agnes had no business meddling in my personal life. Not after I kept her dirty little secret.’

  ‘What secret was that?’ Kate asked, grabbing her notepad.

  ‘That she was a closet drinker. The woman used to sip white wine at lunch, but always had a pint of vodka in her purse for her frequent restroom trips.’

  Lainey glared down her nose. ‘You were eavesdropping on our conversation that day.’