Minnie called out, “Who’s there?”
“Are you expecting someone?” Kit’s expression instantly grew wary.
“No. Besides, none of my friends would ring the doorbell.”
The bell rang again, inspiring Minnie to imitate the sound. I made my way to the door.
“I’ll answer it.” Kit strode ahead of me.
“It’s my house. I’ll do it.” I pulled him back. “But you can stand behind me and glower.”
I opened the door to see Keith Sable on my front porch. A tall, beautiful young woman stood beside him.
“What do you want?” Kit asked in a gruff voice.
Keith looked startled by Kit’s presence and his tone.
“Mr. Sable, I’m surprised to see you,” I said. “Is there something wrong?”
“My fiancée and I would like to speak with you. If you don’t mind.”
His fiancée sent me a disarming smile. She was dressed as I thought a supermodel should be: beige scoop-neck sweater, matching pants, a long fitted jacket, and caramel brown heels. Except for the shoes, I’d bet my entire wardrobe she was outfitted in Stella McCartney. And although Natasha said she was a famous Victoria’s Secret model, I had no memory of her on the VS runway or in their lingerie commercials. But her flawless oval face had stared out at me from a number of ads, the most recent ones for Sable beauty products.
The name Scarlett Beckford did ring a bell. I vaguely recalled her bio: Jamaican father, English mother. And too young for forty-seven-year-old Keith Sable. My internet research on Keith this past week had turned up three divorces and three children. None of his marriages had lasted longer than two years; apparently long enough to father another child, allowing the ex-wife to depart with sizable child-support payments. Clearly, he wasn’t an ideal lifetime partner. Now he was preparing to take on Wife Number Four. I hoped Ms. Beckford wouldn’t regret being next in line.
“Please come in.” I ushered them inside.
With Minnie chattering from the kitchen, I thought it best to seat them in my living room. Because I actually enjoyed cleaning, I knew my house was neat and dust-free. I’d also spent an entire year decorating the ground floor and liked to show off the results. Scarlett scanned the living room with an air of approval. The polished wood floors and creamy white walls accentuated the bold tartan green colors of my furniture, the modern light fixtures, the fireplace, and the array of ferns along my bay window. Patrick and Scarlett sat in a loveseat, prompting Kit and me to settle on the leather club chair and glider across from them.
I felt underdressed next to the couple. Keith was outfitted as stylishly as his model girlfriend, while Kit and I wore jeans and sweatshirts. Kit’s sweatshirt trumpeted the Detroit Tigers; a bright orange pumpkin decorated mine. Not our finest sartorial look.
“Would you like something to drink?” I asked.
“Let’s cut to the chase, Ms. Jacob,” Keith began. “My family and I have been at the local police station this afternoon. We’ve learned Oriole Point has been harboring Ellen Nagy for the past four years, although she apparently goes by the name Leticia the Lake Lady.”
“When you use the term ‘harbor,’” I said, “you make it sound like she’s a fugitive. Which she isn’t.”
“Marlee’s right. Ms. Nagy paid her debt to society many years ago and can live anywhere she likes.” Kit didn’t mention that he was a sheriff investigating the case.
Keith gave him an irritated look. “And who are you, if I might ask?”
“Atticus Holt,” I answered for him. “My boyfriend.”
“As Ms. Jacob’s boyfriend, I assume you want to keep this young lady safe.” Keith nodded at me. “As I wish to protect Scarlett. Only I can’t do that with a homicidal maniac running around the county. A woman who has already killed a young girl out of jealousy.”
“If Leticia wanted to kill any of you—”
“Stop calling her that!” He glared at me. “Her real name is Ellen.”
“Fine. If Ellen wanted to kill any of you, don’t you think she would have done so already?”
“She’s not in her right mind. Who knows what delusion she currently labors under? Whatever it is, it involves our shared past. Bad enough she’s vandalizing cars and setting off smoke bombs to sabotage our product display. Today I learned she’s calling herself by the same name as the young woman she murdered. That alone is cause for concern.”
He had a point. “It is troubling,” I said.
“Quite bonkers, if you ask me,” Scarlett added.
“Far worse than bonkers,” Keith said. “She’s criminally insane. Twenty-eight years ago, Ellen killed my brother’s nanny out of jealousy. She feared my attention was wandering.”
“Was it?” Kit asked.
Keith shot him a suspicious look. “Of course not. There was never anything between Laeticia Murier and me. When my mother hired her as an assistant, I was away at college. Which is also where I was when Patrick and Ainsley asked her to be their nanny. They thought she’d be great with kids.” His expression saddened. “And from what I could see, she was. She loved babies, especially their baby.”
“Something must have happened that summer you were all on Mackinac Island,” I pointed out. “Something to make Ellen jealous.”
“I didn’t do a damn thing,” he shot back. “My only mistake was becoming romantically involved with Ellen Nagy. I fell hard and fast when I met her. But I couldn’t help myself. Back then, Ellen seemed like an angel: pretty, sensitive, kind, smart. I’d never met anyone like her. The Sables aren’t the warmest people in the world, and most girls I had known up to then cared more about my family name and money than me.”
Scarlett took his hand. I wondered if she did truly love him. Or was she bowled over by the family fortune, too?
“By the time I went to college, I’d grown cynical,” he went on. “That changed when I met Ellen. She was different.”
“How so?” I knew what was different about her now, but couldn’t picture her as a lovestruck teenager.
He looked frustrated. “I don’t know. Different. Like she had been raised by fairies or something, which doesn’t make sense. Her family are a bunch of working-class stiffs. I have no idea how she turned out so sweet. Anyway, I fell in love with her.”
“And did she love you?” Kit asked.
Keith gave Kit another puzzled look, as if he couldn’t understand his interest. “She did. When I proposed that August, she said yes right away. I knew my parents would put up a stink. But I promised we’d wait until we both finished college before getting married. That seemed to placate them.” He snorted. “I’m sure they thought I would grow restless within a few months and move on to the next girl. But I don’t think that’s true. I think I really loved her.”
His visit confused me. “I’m not certain why you’re telling us this.”
“To make you understand how unpredictable Ellen is. How dangerous. You know her as the town eccentric, someone you probably laugh at or gossip about.”
“Or feel sorry for,” I said.
“Instead, you should be on your guard. I spent all summer with her and thought she was the gentlest creature in the world. Until the last week on Mackinac Island. Things began to change then. She changed. Although she wasn’t the only one.”
Kit and I glanced at each other before I asked, “What do you mean?”
“Everyone seemed tense. Maybe because it was the end of summer and we were about to leave the island and go back to the real world. Ainsley spent half her time crying. No surprise there. My sister-in-law was being treated for postpartum depression. Patrick was on edge, probably because of Ainsley. My parents stayed with us that last week. They were in bad moods, too. And the nanny seemed the most upset of all.”
This was the first I had heard about the emotional state of the nanny. “Laeticia Murier was upset? Why?”
“Maybe dealing with an infant and Ainsley’s depressed state was too much for her. After all, she was in her early
twenties. A lot to handle for someone that young. And she was far away from home. When we weren’t working at the Grand Hotel, Ellen and I spent a lot of time at the lake house. We couldn’t help but notice how miserable everyone was. It began to affect Ellen. She grew quieter and wouldn’t tell me why.”
“If she was as sensitive as you claim, she probably was shaken by everyone’s bad mood,” I suggested.
“I certainly was. Several times, I tried to comfort Laeticia, who was crying even more than Ainsley. Ellen found me holding Laeticia the day of the yacht trip. There was nothing romantic about it. I only wanted to find out why the family nanny was so miserable. But Ellen wasn’t happy to see me with my arms around Laeticia. She told me to stay away from the nanny. We had our first argument that day.”
“You’re saying she was jealous,” Kit said.
“Of course Ellen was jealous. Laeticia was all frothy and feminine. Very French. But I’ve always been immune to Gallic charm.” He smirked. “I don’t even like French food.”
“Do you really believe Ellen killed her because she found the two of you in an embrace?” I couldn’t keep the skepticism out of my voice.
“She confessed, Ms. Jacob. And our bosun actually witnessed the murder! Shock is too mild a word for what I felt then. And still do. That tragedy taught me to be far more certain of people before I let them into my life. I’d fallen for Ellen within a week. You see, I never knew who Ellen Nagy really was. Any more than you do. I never understood how fragile her emotional state was. Laeticia Murier paid the price for my stupidity. As did my family.”
“Why do you think Ms. Beckford is in danger?” Kit said. “Marlee spoke recently with Ms. Nagy. She never mentioned being jealous of any woman associated with you.”
“Ellen just wants you and your family to go away,” I added. “And she doesn’t know how to protect herself, except with pranks and mulberries.”
“Pranks!” He sat forward, as though about to spring out of his seat. “Have you not heard a word I said?”
“You promised you wouldn’t get upset again, luv.” Scarlett made him sit back. “Ms. Jacob, I don’t understand what mulberries have to do with any of this. The police chief mentioned mulberries had been found on the floor of the vendor room.”
“Ellen believes mulberries have the ability to protect her.” I sighed.
Keith swore under his breath. “She’s unbalanced. And a danger to us all.”
“If you’re worried about your fiancée’s safety, it might be best for her to leave town.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Scarlett said. “Honestly, the way everyone is carrying on about this loony woman. Even if she were a danger, I can take care of myself.” She shook her head. “Keith spends too much time in Palm Beach. The only thing to worry about there are hurricanes and skin cancer. I spent the first ten years of my life in Kingston, Jamaica. Do you really think I’d run away from someone who sets off smoke bombs? Not bloody likely.”
I liked this supermodel with an accent that combined a Jamaican lilt with posh London. A pity she was involved with the Sable family.
“The Harvest Health Fair will be over on Saturday,” I said. “Although Piper won’t be happy, I’m sure she’d understand if all of you left ahead of schedule. Given the circumstances.”
“It wouldn’t help. We have several days of promotion and publicity lined up in Chicago. Ellen would find a way to follow us there.” Keith nervously twisted his signet ring. “I just need to know how closely you’re working with Ellen.”
“I’m not working with her at all. She ordered mulberries from me. That’s my job. I sell berry products. Beyond that, I haven’t done a thing for her.”
“You met with her at the conference center this afternoon, where she probably told you what she had planned. You found the dead body of the man who was her ghostwriter. A man Ellen no doubt killed. My family and my fiancée are at risk. Yet you are still protecting her.”
“I’m not. If I knew where she was or what she has planned, I’d tell the police.”
“Liar!”
Kit shot to his feet. “That’s enough. Raise your voice one more time or attempt to intimidate Marlee, and I will arrest you.”
Keith looked dumfounded.
I cleared my throat. “Captain Holt is head of Investigative Services at the sheriff’s department.”
“What! You both trapped me.” Keith straightened his jacket. “Let’s get out of here, Scarlett. The whole town is lined up against my family. Including the police.”
“If you continue to overreact,” Kit warned, “we will get nowhere in this case.”
“Oh, I doubt very much local law enforcement will get anywhere. Not with such a careless attitude about the safety of anyone who isn’t a resident.”
Scarlett got to her feet with a sigh. “He’s upset. The last thing he expected to find here was a crazy woman from his past.”
“Of course I’m upset! We should all be upset. She’s a killer!”
I stood up, too. “I’d keep an eye out for more pranks. I don’t think she’s done causing trouble. But I also don’t believe she means to kill anyone.”
Keith gave me a long, searching look. “Are you a hundred percent certain of that?”
“A hundred percent certain?” I paused. “No. I’m not.”
“Exactly.” His smile was chilly. “The police chief told us that both a manuscript and Ellen’s laptop are missing. Since a ghostwriter has been found murdered on her property, I assume he helped Ellen write a book. And she killed him when the book was done.”
“No one knows who killed Felix Bonaventure.”
He threw me a disbelieving look. “Can we stop the pretense, Ms. Jacob?”
“Back off, Mr. Sable,” Kit said in a commanding tone I had never heard before.
“I don’t know where the manuscript or the laptop are.” I had no intention of telling him that both might be hidden in a box of mulberries on Leticia’s front porch. “I wish I did know because I think the manuscript will answer a lot of questions.”
“Such as?” Scarlett looked bewildered.
“Why does Leticia fear the Sable family? What does she have planned?” I hesitated before I added, “And what really happened the night Laeticia Murier died?”
“How dare you imply Ellen didn’t kill Laeticia?” Keith shouted, his face red with anger.
Kit stepped in front of him. “Time to go, Mr. Sable.”
Scarlett took Keith by the arm. “If I’d known he was going to cause a scene, I would never have let him come.”
“Whose side are you on?” He now turned his anger on her, but this supermodel had both hauteur and moxie to spare.
“Yours.” She smoothed down his jacket. “Until you start acting like a bloody idiot. Now say good-bye. We’ve bothered these poor people quite enough.”
Kit and I followed the couple to the front door. Scarlett had pulled him over the threshold when Keith turned back and said, “You don’t know what you’re dealing with, Ms. Jacob. You think you do, but you don’t.”
“I agree. I’m not sure what is going on, to be honest.”
“I know one thing, and this is no threat.” He glanced over my shoulder at where Kit stood guard. “All of us are in danger, Ms. Jacob. But you might be in the most danger of all.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes after Keith and Scarlett left, we were on the way to Leticia’s house. Because Kit was still fuming about Keith Sable’s aggressive behavior, I thought it wiser if I drove. To distract Kit, I tossed him a bag of candy corn when I got behind the wheel. Piper told me that Twizzlers were irresistible to her husband. Kit’s sugary Achilles’ heel was candy corn. Snickers bars ran a close second.
“Where do you think Leticia is hiding?” I turned on my headlights. I was mistaken about the sunset time. Halfway to Leticia’s house, dusk turned into darkness. A reminder of the shortening days and longer nights ahead. Cooler temps, too. I had chosen a quilted jacket to keep me warm on the
drive.
“You told me she pulled out a roll of hundreds that day on the pier. With that much cash, she could find lots of cheap motels in any of the surrounding counties.”
“Why a cheap motel?”
“More upscale places would require ID. We’re sending officers to hotels and motels in the area. Because this is a tourist destination, there are lots of them. If she suspects the police are doing that, she may only spend one night at a particular motel, then move on.” He threw back a few more candy corn. “If she owned a car, it’s likely she’d be sleeping in there.”
“What’s to stop her from doing that anyway?”
“Sleeping in random cars is an easy way to get caught.”
“Not necessarily. For example, my next-door neighbor has gone to Chicago for the week and left one of his cars in his driveway. He always does that when he’s away because he likes people to think someone’s at home.”
He munched on candy for a moment. “She’d still have to figure out how to get into a locked car.”
I laughed. “None of the residents lock their cars. Few of them even lock their houses, at least during the day. I’m an oddball. I may leave my vehicle unlocked, but never my house.”
“Marlee, please lock your car. Do you know how easy it is for some man intent on harming you to hide in the backseat?”
“I always check my backseat before I get in, and let’s not get off the subject. Leticia could be staying in cheap motels or someone’s car. But I don’t think she’s far away.”
“Why?”
“Because the police put out an APB on her. They’re looking for her purple motor scooter, which Theo saw her driving only a few hours ago. She wouldn’t want to be on the road too long for fear of being spotted. That means she’s hiding somewhere close. Close enough to get to the conference center without being seen.”
“Right under our noses maybe,” he said, more to himself than to me.
We discussed all the possible hiding places in Oriole Point, but after twenty minutes we ran out of ideas. “For all we know, she has a tent and spends the night in the woods. Maybe even the state park.” Kit resealed the candy corn bag. “I need to stop eating this. Thank God I only eat candy corn at Halloween. Is this what we’re giving out to the kids?”
Mulberry Mischief Page 16
