by Dale Mayer
“We might have been the poorer side of the Theroux family,” Hannah said, “but no way were we as low and as slimy as the Lansdowns. Betty’s mother never saw anything happening around her. She couldn’t be bothered. Drank herself into a grave a few years ago. Betty’s brother took off a long time ago. Who knows where the hell he is now? The whole family is a mess.”
“And so you couldn’t possibly let your best friend marry your father because that would attach those nasty slimy Lansdown bottom-feeders to the founding Theroux family. What would happen to the poorer side of the Theroux family, those existing members who had no intention of staying on the poor side of the family? I mean, look at you. After everything that happened, the wealthiest Theroux family tucked you away protectively, gave you a lovely house in the better part of town to live in, and looked after you. You remained the delicate one who they always had to keep an eye out for. And that suited you just fine.” Doreen stopped and looked at Hannah. “That must have been difficult. Because, as much as you might have hated what Betty was doing, a part of you also loved her.” Doreen thought about all the years since, thought about the fact that Hannah never had a family, never got married. And Doreen gave her a sad smile. “I’m so sorry.”
Hannah glared at her, but now fear shone in her eyes.
“Back then it was even less acceptable, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She took several steps back, the fear shining brightly in her eyes.
“You and Betty were lovers. She understood who you were. You could be you with her. But, at the same time, she was sleeping with your father. And that was a double betrayal. No way would you let your lover become your stepmother.”
Chapter 27
Hannah’s face worked into an ugly red mottled grimace.
Doreen wanted to both hug her and hit her for what she’d done. “You never meant to hurt Betty. Or rather, you did at the moment, but you never meant to kill her,” Doreen said thoughtfully. “What did you do? Hit her over the head? Knock her out? Suffocate her?” She studied Hannah’s face, looking for an answer, but Hannah seemed beyond speech. “So, how is it Betty’s uncle knew?”
Again Doreen looked for a reaction, but none came. Hannah appeared to be too involved in her own grief.
“Brian must have seen you.”
At that, Hannah gave a slow nod. “He did. He saw us before, when we were curled up in bed together. And he knew. Then he heard the fight we had,” she said slowly, sadly. “He came to see what was going on. But he was a little too late to save her.”
Doreen wondered if that wasn’t on purpose. It sounded like Brian was more interested in watching the two of them, seeing what he could get out of it. To confirm her thoughts, she asked, “Did he step forward and offer to help?”
Hannah nodded. “At the time I was desperate to hide what I’d done. And yet, inside I was breaking apart because I loved her. I really loved her. But I knew she was on a one-way track that just wouldn’t stop.”
“So it really had nothing to do with the jewels, did it?”
Hannah shook her head slowly. “No. Not then. She just disappeared, and nobody thought anything of it. But then Lansdown ran into a spot of trouble. He owed some money to some very bad and dangerous people, and he needed to pay up. He came to me. His way of finding a new source of cash. But I didn’t have anything. So he went to my father. Brian told my father about Betty and me, about him having an illicit affair with Betty, a minor. And then Brian told my father that I’d killed Betty. My dad cheerfully cooperated at that point.
“He set it up to look like a robbery. Betty’s father was hired to break in and to steal the jewels. I don’t think Lansdown knew about that. But, when his brother got caught, Brian never stepped up and confessed either,” she said bitterly. “I still don’t understand why Stephen never told on Brian. But Brian was all about saving his own ass. He didn’t give a damn about anybody else’s.”
Doreen could’ve told Hannah that men like Brian were the same all over, regardless of any perceived social position. “He couldn’t let the money supply dry up,” Doreen said softly. “Did Lansdown continue to blackmail your family until his own death?”
Hannah nodded slowly. “He did, but we didn’t have any more money for him, not from our side of the family, not to get the sums he was always after. And the Theroux family might support their poorer relations, but they didn’t pay blackmailers. So Lansdown tried to go behind my father’s back by blackmailing my mother, but she kicked Lansdown out of the house and said she didn’t believe any of it. After that, I honestly to this day don’t know if Lansdown died a natural death or if my father finally had had enough of his blackmailer. Then Father died a couple years after Lansdown. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mother killed him at that point.”
“Was it Lansdown’s idea to dismember Betty?”
Hannah nodded. “He was doing quite a few gardening jobs at the time. We put her in a chest freezer here at his house and then cut her up into pieces, so he could get them into the gardens without anybody knowing. The problem was, the creek went really high the following spring, and one of the garden beds washed out. A lot of properties along the creek washed out. We were lucky just one arm showed up. I stayed quiet. So did he. And the case went cold.” Hannah turned on Doreen, her voice turning vicious. “Until you arrived and dredged it all back up again.”
“We found a second arm,” Doreen said quietly. “And a right foot and lower leg.”
Hannah’s mouth dropped open, and a small scream escaped. “Are you serious?”
Doreen nodded. “Mother Earth always gives up her secrets. She might take a little time, or she might take a long time, but eventually the truth rises to the surface.” Doreen motioned at the garden behind her. “Which part do you have here?”
Hannah looked at the back garden and whispered, “Her trunk.”
“What were you going to do with it?” Doreen waved at the empty backyard. “No one has lived here in forever. Why would you come here now?”
“Those rumors about you digging into things you shouldn’t be and how you’ve been into the begonias.”
“Why begonias?” Doreen couldn’t help asking again. “Did Betty hate them?”
As a pained expression whispered across the other woman’s face, Doreen understood.
“No, Betty loved them, didn’t she?” At Hannah’s slow nod, Doreen felt her heart wrench. As if words were beyond her, Hannah nodded slowly, the color in her face nonexistent, and Doreen understood further.
“I’m sorry. That’s a heavy burden for you to carry all these years. I’m surprised about the ivory box too and the ring.”
“I gave her the ring, but she threw it back at me when we fought that night. And the box was from my father,” Hannah said softly. “I thought it fitting that she be buried with them. After she’d slept with him to get it, she’d sleep forever with the spoils of her actions.”
Doreen hated to hear this, whether it was important or not. Then Hannah grew quiet and stared at Doreen for a moment, a cunning and calculating look entering her eyes.
Doreen shook her head. “Oh, no you don’t. The game is up, and you can’t kill me and bury me in the garden too.”
“Why not? You have been asking questions all around town. Who knows who might have killed you? I know at least half a dozen people who would like to.” Hannah glanced around slowly, as if looking for witnesses.
Down the street Doreen could hear a vehicle. She wondered if Mack had gotten the message. Not that she’d made it very clear. If he was any kind of a detective, he would have contacted Nan. Doreen backed up several paces to the garage.
The problem with this scenario was, if Doreen got caught in the backyard, and somebody from Hannah’s family came here before Mack did, there was a good chance Doreen would end up cornered. And potentially in the garden in the begonias, along with poor Betty.
Doreen turned to see who had arrived and caught movement out of the corner o
f her eye. She spun. As the shovel came down hard on her shoulder, she defensively raised her arm, but the blow still knocked her down.
Mugs barked like crazy and went on the attack. He tugged on Hannah’s pant cuffs. And Goliath … Wow!
Doreen lay on the grass, partially stunned, and watched as Goliath clawed his way up Hannah’s legs.
Hannah screamed, “Get them off me. Get them off me.”
But her screams attracted Thaddeus. He flew on top of her head but couldn’t quite get into position, so dug his claws into the nest of hair she had on top. She screamed even more. Thaddeus imitated her screaming. Mugs barked louder. Goliath howled.
And Mack walked into the backyard, his gun drawn and roared, “What the hell is going on?”
Doreen glanced up at him. “Hannah killed Betty.”
And Hannah fell to her knees, crying. “I did. I killed Betty. Dear God, help me. I loved her too much to let her go.”
Chapter 28
At home, Doreen couldn’t stop shaking. Her whole body was racked with tremors. She knew she’d been extremely foolish, now that it was over. What was she thinking, confronting a killer like that—by herself? She was tucked up on the living room couch with a blanket around her shoulders. Nan—back in her former house for the first time since Doreen had moved in—sat beside Doreen, gently patting her hand.
Mack, finally freed from the craziness of forensic proceedings at Lansdown’s former house, delivered Doreen a cup of hot coffee. He set it down on the coffee table before her. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital? That’s a nasty blow you took on your shoulder.”
Doreen shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. The last thing I want is more people staring at me and asking questions.”
The truth about Betty had been postponed over these thirty years. Some of the questions still were not answered, but at least Mack now had the truth, once he’d heard the recording Doreen had on her phone. The entire town would be nothing but a gossip mill, rife with the latest news. She reached for the coffee on the table.
Mack said, “Just wait a bit. It’s still hot.”
She nodded. Goliath was currently curled up on her lap, but she scooped him up higher against her chest, so she could cuddle him closer. She had to do everything one-armed—the other one was in a fiery agony.
Nan looked at her granddaughter worriedly. “Are you sure you didn’t hurt yourself? What if you broke your arm?”
Doreen shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’ll be one heck of an ugly-looking yet colorful bruise for a while.” At least she hoped that was true. Maybe she should go to the hospital, but it wasn’t her way. “If and when I try to move it, and it doesn’t move, then I’ll reconsider the Emergency Room. But right now I really don’t want to go anywhere.” Goliath’s big engine purred in her ear, and she buried her face in his fur. “Thank you, Nan, for leaving me Goliath and Thaddeus.”
Nan patted her leg. “You’re very welcome. I think Goliath and Thaddeus are very happy with you too.”
Mugs jumped up on the couch between her and Nan, finding enough room against Doreen’s feet for him to tuck up in a circle. Nan rubbed him around the ears. “Of course I’m delighted too. And you’re making me a lot of money.” She beamed.
Mack, on the other hand, stood taller, his arms crossed on his chest, and glared at Nan, then at Doreen. “What will it take to keep you out of trouble? Both of you?”
Nan tried to look innocent. Doreen looked up at him and smiled. Then Thaddeus jumped up and landed on Mack’s shoulder, trying to imitate the look on Mack’s face.
Doreen smiled. “Maybe keep me out of the begonias?”
Thaddeus popped up and said, “Bones in the begonias. Bones in the begonias.”
For the first time in a long time, Doreen laughed heartily, even though her shoulder radiated with more throbbing pain. “Listen to Thaddeus,” she said to Mack. “He understands.”
Mack shook his head and went to get himself a cup of coffee.
She exchanged a look with Nan, and the two of them smiled.
Nan leaned forward and said quietly, “You’re doing good, bone lady. You’re doing real good.”
At the word bone, Thaddeus repeated ad nauseam, “Good bone lady. Good bone lady. Good bone lady.”
There was nothing else to do but laugh. Still, Doreen would be happy to not hear that nickname directed at her again.
At least not for a few days …
Epilogue
Okanagan Mission aka The Mission,
Neighborhood of the City of Kelowna,
British Columbia;
Wednesday, One Day Later….
Doreen sat curled on the couch. All she had wanted was three days. Three days of peace and quiet. Was that in the cards? She doubted it. As much as she desperately wanted to be out of the lime light and rejoice in the peace and quiet of living in her Nan’s house, she had a bad feeling in her gut.
Her brood was sedate—even Goliath, asleep on the other end of the couch with Mugs—all her furry or feathered babies obviously understanding how Doreen really needed that from them at this time. Thaddeus rubbed his beak along her cheek, then closed his eyes, happy to just sit on her shoulder.
Unfortunately she found no peace or quiet outside her home, not yet today—but it was early morning—and not for the last two days for sure. The reporters were still at her door, even at this hour. The newspaper journalists were still writing articles about how Doreen had helped solve the decades-old cold case of Betty Miles’s death, and Nan and her cronies were still enjoying being the center of attention by giving numerous interviews, supposedly on Doreen’s behalf. Doreen had told Nan how that was totally fine, just happy that Nan had found something, other than her illegal betting activities, to bring excitement to her life.
Indeed, Nan glowed with it.
But, as for Doreen, she wanted to be left alone. At that thought, her phone chimed. She glanced at her cell and groaned. But she hit the Talk button anyway. “You better have a good reason for bothering me, Mack.” She slid farther down on the couch until her head rested on the armrest. Thaddeus shifted his position but refused to give up his spot on her shoulder.
“I figured for sure that, by now, you’d be all pepped up, raring to go,” he said.
She could detect the worry in his voice and had to smile. “I am, and yet, I’m not. Have you any idea how deep the lineup of reporters is outside my front door? I know this is a small town, but it seems like the news hit the wires all the way across the country.”
“You’re a celebrity,” he said, laughing. His voice softened. “But, no, that’s not an easy position to be in.”
“I didn’t murder anybody,” she exclaimed, sitting up straight to peek through the curtains. “Why are they haunting me?”
Thaddeus squawked, shot her a disgusted look when she had disturbed his nap on her shoulder, hopped up to the back of the couch, where he wandered over a few steps and then proceeded to close his eyes again.
“It’s like everybody thinks I’m the one who’s done something wrong,” she said reaching out to pet Mugs, then stroke her fingers across Goliath’s back.
“Remember the last time?” he asked. “This too will blow over.”
“Sure, but every time I find a new body,” she said in exasperation, “they look at me as if I had something to do with it.”
“Not that you had something to do with the making of the dead bodies,” he corrected, his light humor sliding through his voice, “but that your arrival precipitated all this. Or maybe you have some sort of psychic ability. You don’t, do you?” His voice held a curious note to it.
She chuckled at his tone. “I think, by now, both you and I would know if I did.”
“Well, you need something to cheer you up.”
“What have you got for me?” She stood, walking over to peer through the round window on the front door. Instantly camera flashes went off. She stepped back and walked toward the kitchen. “Have you got a nice puz
zle for me to work on?”
“You mean, like another case?”
“It would get me out of the dumps.” Her tone turned crafty. “You know how I like a good puzzle.”
“You could pick up some jigsaw puzzles,” he exclaimed. “That’s a much safer hobby.”
“Murderous puzzles are much more fun.” She chuckled, knowing he’d hate her answer.
“And much more dangerous,” he snapped. “You could have been killed last time.”
She shrugged. “You live and you die. At least I’d be doing something I wanted to do.”
“Solving cold cases?”
She grinned, hearing the hesitation in his voice. “You have another cold case you’re looking into, don’t you?”
Silence.
For the first time since she had awakened before dawn today, her boredom and sense of a dark cloud hanging over her almost lifted. “It’s not my fault this town is a den of iniquity,” she stated. “Just think of all the nastiness hidden here for so long.” She could feel that same sense of excitement surging through her when delving into Mack’s cold cases. “Are you going to tell me the details?”
“No,” he said, no hesitation in his voice this time.
“And why not?” She waited. If he wanted to play a waiting game, that was no problem. She could play that game too.
Finally he said, “It’s not really a priority.”
“Maybe not to you,” she said. “Cold cases are a priority to the families.”
