Swindled

by Mayes, June

  “Umm,” Beth was at a loss. She shrugged, “How about we just say that I lost my head and leave it at that?” There was still a faint hope in the back of her mind that they wouldn’t make her relive every moment. A very faint hope Beth amended as she watched her family shake their heads at her.

  “No,” Vickie cheerfully replied reinforcing their silent refusal. Scott smiled over his coffee cup giving no indication that either of them was going to let this one go. It was too good and too rare a chance to let slide. Beth tried to think of something feasible that she could use to explain the situation. Unfortunately her brain seemed to be ready to go back to bed and was not cooperating. She sighed and looked around the kitchen to try to delay the inevitable.

  Sunlight streamed in through the patio doors that ran the length of the kitchen’s left side. At the end of the long room was the stove which was covered with used frying pans and pots. Dishes lay piled on the counter by the sink. Someone had been cooking. The kitchen was dominated by a wood table that was set for breakfast and sure enough there were steaming pancakes piled high along with fruit, toast, jams and preserves.

  Beth loved Vickie being pregnant. It meant that every meal was a culinary delight. She looked at the table and back at her sister. If she spilled the beans then there was a chance of having a proper breakfast versus having to scrounge something herself. Difficult decision.

  “Okay, okay,” she said finally giving in to the inevitable. The three sat down at the kitchen table and over a cup of tea Beth told them how she had literally fallen in the arms of a complete stranger. She didn’t give full disclosure because a lady never tells but she told them enough to get the gist of things. Vickie and Scott could barely eat breakfast they were laughing so much. It sounded like the not so subtle script to a day time soap opera. Beth could see it was amusing. There was just no way of explaining it without it being funny. At the time it had been mortifying but now in the light of day far away from the hotel it was very funny. She had thrown herself naked at an unknown man. This was going to become a story she wasn’t going to be able to ever live down, Beth thought looking at the two sitting across the table.

  Beth was close to Vickie, closer then she would be to a best friend. Twins were like that. Scott, well, Scott was an extension of Vickie. He was so in love with his wife that he was a best friend to Beth as well. Telling them what happened was a bit like writing in a diary or sending a dear Abby letter. They also let her gloss over the period between of going to bed and leaving this morning. She didn’t have to say anything. Vickie and Scott just shared knowing glances and laughed at what parts she did mention. They were far too interested in finding out more about the man that has literally swept her off her feet.

  Just as the three of them finished eating the doorbell rang. It had to be a friend they figured. No one else in town would dare ring on someone’s door before nine am on a Saturday morning. Even the various bible pushers were careful to wait until the potential marks were awake. Walking towards the door Beth looked in the hall mirror and giggled. Even for someone with an off beat fashion sense, she looked shockingly. Nothing in the outfit seemed to work with anything else. Beth decided she looked like a college student gone wrong, not the 30 something year old business woman she professed to be.

  Still laughing Beth opened the front door. There on their doorstep were two police detectives, their IDs catching the light as they held them up. Neither one looked very happy. In fact, they looked disgruntled, pissed off and generally not impressed.

  Chapter 8

  “Elizabeth Grant?” One asked.

  “Yes?” Beth responded “Can I help you?” Her stomach dropped. What was going on? What could she have possibly done that would warrant a visit from the police? She sucked in a breath.

  They had one night stand police? She thought about it. No, take a deep breath, that didn’t make sense she told herself. There was bound to be a reasonable explanation for why they were here, there had to be. After all one night stands weren’t actually illegal right?

  “My name is Joseph Serrate. May we come in?” The detective who asked was tall and reed thin. His hair was neatly arranged and though he looked tired, his eyes were alert and watching Beth. She wondered if he had some built in police radar that told him she had just arrived home after a night out. Given her outfit it wouldn’t be too hard to surmise what she had been up to or coming back from. Joseph didn’t seem that impressed with her and he didn’t look happy about standing on the doorstep on a brisk autumn morning. Behind him, his overlarge colleague shifted from foot to foot, awkward in a loose suit.

  “Yes, of course. Please come in,” Beth said and gestured toward the room to her right. Vickie and Scott came up behind her looking worried. The three shared puzzled looks and followed the detectives into the family room. It was the room that leant comfort and safety. It had been an automatic reaction for Beth to lead them there. She looked at it through stranger’s eyes and felt uncomfortable. It was like letting someone see a piece of what made Beth and Vickie who they were. On the wood floor was a rectangular Persian rug in a rich blue and red pattern. A large worn brown leather couch sat with its back to the door. In front of the couch were a glass topped coffee table and two wingback chairs stood on either side of the fireplace.

  Hanging above the fireplace was the flat screen television which was Scott’s contribution to the room. Because the house was paid off, Scott used his salary to pay the taxes and to kit the entire house out in the latest technical gadgets. He said that what he spent was still at least half as much as he would be paying to live anywhere else. They were all more then happy with the arrangement. Beth was sure that if they let Scott have his way the stove would talk and the fridge would pour their drinks. She still half suspected that she would come home one day to find Scott had turned himself into Inspector Gadget.

  “I understand that you and Vickie are the half sisters of Brian Grant?” Joseph asked drawing Beth’s attention back as he sat down in a blue leather wing backed chair. Unlike the couch the wingback chairs in the room were red and blue respectively.

  “Yes. Why? What’s going on?” Beth responded reaching out to grasp her sister’s hand. They sat next to one another on the couch lending moral support. The other detective was walking around the room looking at the pictures scattered on the fireplace mantel, bookshelves and the coffee table.

  “I understand that the two of you live in this house with Scott Stephens, husband to Vickie.” The detective stated, ignoring Beth’s questions and looking at the sisters and Scott in turn. He consulted his notes.

  “Yes,” Scott responded and added forcefully, “Tell us what is going on.” Normally a calm and laid back kind of guy, he looked much more alert. This was not amusing him.

  “Brian Grant was found dead this morning. He was discovered in the bedroom of his apartment by his housekeeper.”

  Beth felt the blood pounding in her ears. There was no other sound for a few seconds as she tried to comprehend what the detective just told them. Beside her Vickie had gone pale and was leaning into her husband. Both Vickie and Scott looked stunned. Beth felt tears welling in her eyes. Brian had been an awful brother and as a man he had just been slimy but this was a terrible way for his life to come to an end.

  The detective’s partner had stopped pacing and leaned against the wall near the door to the lounge. Joseph looked serious and said, “I’m sorry.”

  Brian was their half brother from their father’s previous marriage. He had been 18 when his mother died and bitterly resented his father’s remarriage after her death. Brian had always been welcome but tended to turn up only for holidays. When he did turn up, he spent the entire time making veiled comments to their father about marrying into the working class. His other enjoyment when visiting had been to push his twin ‘kid’ sisters around.

  “How?” Beth stuttered back. She felt as if she were in a dream. “What happened?” In a small part of her mind, she wondered what deal he had got himself in
to that could have ended in murder.

  As an adult Brian had not turned out very well. He had more money then sense thanks to his Trust Fund and had the unfortunate habit of partnering with crooks. He also tended to get caught. When he wasn’t trying to cheat people he was sleeping with any woman that came near him. For the most part Brian had managed to pay his way out of the trouble he got into, avoiding jail time. However, most of the family and friends agreed that it was a matter of time. Brian coming to an untimely end was not altogether surprising but it was a shock all the same. Jail had seemed much more likely an end than death.

  “He was stabbed last night in his home. The attack took place between ten pm and midnight. We are investigating several possible leads. At the moment I can’t give you more details. As you will understand there is a limit to the amount of information we can release.” The detective sat forward in his chair. He looked serious and focused. “I need to ask each of you where you were last night.”

  “Stabbed,” Beth whispered again gripping tightly to her sister’s hand.

  “But none of us would … We wouldn’t… We didn’t even know he was still in town,” Vickie replied helplessly reaching out her other hand to Scott. She shook her head and continued, “Scott and I were here all night. I was tired so went to bed about nine. Scott came up around eleven.” Scott nodded confirming what his wife told the detective.

  “I see,” The detective looked at them and back at Beth. “And you, Elizabeth?”

  “I was with a friend,” Beth replied. Sanity was starting to sink in but she couldn’t believe that Brian was gone. It was something that she would have to deal with later. He hadn’t been the most likeable person but he was still family, sort of.

  OH! Beth thought with a start. How was she going to explain this one? Her brain had finally woken up to a less relevant but far more embarrassing aspect of the situation. She felt like hitting her forehead against the wall. She could see just how the conversation would go, ‘officer I met this very good looking guy in his hotel room. I was soaping up in the bath and, well, we decided to just throw caution to the wind.’ No, that was so not going to work, Beth thought. It was really, really not going to work.

  “Care to elaborate on the details of that friend and where the two of you were?” Joseph asked after a brief pause. Both detectives were eyeing Beth as if she suddenly had ‘guilty’ tattooed on her forehead.

  “Do I have to elaborate?” Beth asked hopefully. The detectives nodded in unison. They were both kept eyeing her with interest. “Ok,” she paused. “Well Vickie and I were at the Winterbourne Hotel yesterday and due to a slight accident the hotel needed to sort out some damaged done to my clothing. By the time it was fixed it was easier to stay there with a friend then return home.” Beth stopped. That didn’t sound so bad. Like pulling a band-aide off, the faster you do it the better.

  “Your friend’s name?” Joseph asked with his pen poised over paper.

  “David,” Beth replied succinctly looking Joseph in the eye. It was after all his name. The detective sat there on the chair pen still posed over the paper, waiting. His colleague shifted against the door frame. “Okay, okay,” Beth made soothing motions with her hand, “David Andrews,” and gave them the Hotel details.

  There was a quiet silence as the detectives took this in. The looks on their faces and Scott’s were priceless. “The David Andrews?” It was the first time the detective by the doorway spoke. He stood up straight and had the look of a kid whose Christmases had all come at once.

  “Of course we’ll need to verify that you were with him,” he continued almost to himself. Beth could see he was practically rubbing his hands together with glee. Beth looked around at the reactions of the three men and thought, who was David Andrews when she wasn’t sleeping with him?

  Scott leaned forward to look around his pregnant wife. His jaw had dropped and his eyes promised that he would be getting answers from her later. Joseph himself looked bemused.

  “Yes,” Joseph said clearing his throat. It was a feeble attempt to draw his colleague’s attention back to the issue at hand. He continued, “We’ll check in with the hotel after we finish our conversation here.” He shook his head and looked back at his notes. He looked like he was trying to drag his mind back to where he had left off. “Now, I understand that Brian was not very close to the two of you. I believe there was,” the detective paused and glanced at his notebook,” about a twenty year age gap between you and that you shared a father. I am also aware of his frequent run-ins with the law.” The detective looked slightly pained at this point. Beth winced to herself. Brian had been thorough with his crimes. They were numerous and covered a lot of ground.

  “Given the incidents in question, it is not surprising that there were issues between the three of you,” the detective continued after clearing his throat. “However it appears these issues were more serious then the normal family disquiet.” Beth and Vickie shared a puzzled glance. They had had problems with Brian but nothing major and nothing that could be considered more then family disputes. The detective noticing their confusion finally cut to the chase.

  “I understand you, Elizabeth, threatened to kill him yesterday. Is that correct?” Joseph stated calmly watching the sisters closely for their reactions.

  Beth sat stunned as the detective looked back at her. She felt her jaw drop. Joseph prompted her again saying, “No doubt you will appreciate that we will need you to explain just what was happening between you.”

  “Pardon?” Beth said quietly looking at the detective. He must be insane she thought. Scott had stood up in reaction to the line of questioning and didn’t look particularly happy with the detective’s accusations. Joseph waved him back into his seat to calm him. Vickie in the meantime had turned pale and leaned forward to grasp both of Beth’s hands again which were clenched together in shock.

  “Did you suggest that you wanted to inflict physical harm on Brian Grant?” Joseph quietly asked again referring to his notebook. “As in tear him limb from limb.” The other detective had also focused his attention of Beth. She felt like their eyes were pinning her back against the couch with accusations.

  Beth had to admit that she felt flummoxed. Although killing Brian was a sentiment she could relate to, she had never seriously thought to hurt him. As a step brother, he had been a bane on their lives but he could be ignored, sort of. She and Vickie had very little to do with him until they decided to try and start the business. Even then they had really tried to do it on their own. Brian had been the one to suggest the sisters ask him for help. It had been the first nice thing that Beth could remember him doing.

  “The last person to see Brian alive was a Michael Wilde.” The detective flipped back a page in his notebook familiarising himself with the comments made. He had clearly lost patience with waiting for a response and was getting more insistent. “We interviewed Michael first thing this morning. He suggested that the two of you had a pretty good motive for killing the victim. He said you threatened Brian in a meeting yesterday?”

  Why that weasel! Beth thought and felt herself start to shake with shock. What a low down thing to suggest. She took a deep breath and spoke out loud to the detective, “Look, Brian stole money from our business, a business that we started together. To add insult to injury, Michael helped him do it. We were told yesterday.” Beth took a breath to still her heavily beating heart. Her mind was racing.

  She looked at the detective and said, “At the time I was angry. I may have said that I wanted to kill him but it was said in the heat of the moment. I would never… I just wouldn’t. People say things like that when they are mad.” Tears were spilling down her cheeks. The detective nodded.

  “I can understand that,” he agreed, “But you must also understand that because of the situation you are considered one of the potential suspects.”

  Time suddenly stopped. Beth couldn’t think. She sat frozen as Scott stood up again. Vickie put her arm around her sister hugging her close. Josep
h waved his hand to calm them.

  He continued, “Each of you will be considered a suspect until we have concluded that your alibis for last night are sound. Both the hotel and David Andrews should be able to confirm Elizabeth’s location yesterday. We will be speaking to neighbours to see if we can confirm the location of both Vickie and Scott.”

  “You can’t seriously suspect Vickie. Me fine but a woman who is eight months pregnant? You think she killed Brain?” Scott exclaimed. He had turned red and his fists were clenched. This was clearly a man who had had enough with accusations being thrown around his home and at his family. Vickie reached out to him and pulled him back down on the couch next to her. She looked washed out. It was too much to take in.

  “I am not excluding anyone from this investigation until I can verify their locations,” the detective stated looking at Scott and then closing his notebook. “I think we have enough information at present. We will be getting back in touch with you in the next few days. Please don’t leave town until we have concluded this line of enquiry.” Joseph stood up and walked to the front door with his colleague close at his heals. Scott was left standing looking outraged by the front door. He had followed the two men out and for a minute Beth was sure he was contemplating actually physically tossing the detectives out on their respective rears. She stayed on the overstuffed couch with Vickie unable to will herself to move or even think.

  Brian was dead. Horribly murdered in his own home. She and her sister were being considered suspects. It was too much to take in.

  Chapter 9

  The next hour turned into a blur as the sisters consoled one another. Scott took on the role of butler ferrying tea back and forth, trying to calm them. It was, Beth figured, Scott’s way of working off some of the frustration of the situation. As for Brian’s death itself, neither Vickie nor Beth could believe it. Murder was something that happened on TV or on the streets between gangs. Brian may not have been an average person but he was normal enough that murder seemed extreme. Brian always managed to get out of any trouble. It was hard to believe that he had met an end that he couldn’t recover from.