My mind drifted to the photo albums I'd seen at the Van Dorn's. Bing had said Elspeth knew him well. Had she been in some of those pictures? I hadn't recognized her if she was.
"Hi, Willa. How are you?" She'd stopped at the porch steps, waiting for me to complete the trek across her yard.
"Great. You?"
"Wonderful." She bent down and rubbed Pandora behind the ears, then turned to Ranger. "And who is this?"
"This is Ranger, Bruce Norton's dog."
Ranger gave a little 'woof' and Elspeth patted his head.
"I heard about Bruce. Such an awful thing." Elspeth shook her head, a snow-white wisp of hair falling loose from the braid that crowned the top. "He was a nice man."
"Meow!" A fluffy Siamese appeared at the door.
"A new cat?" Elspeth had quite a brood of cats, but I'd never seen this one before.
"Yes. That’s Lewis." Elspeth started up the steps. "Come on in and you can fill me in on what's been going on in town."
We went inside and Elspeth led us through the living room, with its overstuffed sofas and chairs, and into the old-fashioned kitchen.
"Sit." She gestured toward the chrome table and I slid into one of the matching yellow and white Naugahyde chairs while Elspeth set a large, juicy tomato on a cutting board and sliced it.
Lewis wound figure eight’s around her ankles, looking up at her and mewing softly.
Pandora eyed the cat curiously for a few seconds, then ventured forward for a few sniffs which earned her a whack of Lewis's paw. Ranger kept a safe distance.
"How was your trip to Maine?" I asked.
"Oh, wonderful. I have some distant relatives out there. Four young girls." Elspeth chuckled, then added, "Well, I guess I should say women. The oldest is in her thirties. But I think of them as girls still. Anyway, they have a wonderful home full of family history right on the ocean in Noquitt."
"That sounds restful."
"Yes. They've had some … things going on and I just went out to see if I could help them. Hadn't seen them in many years." Elspeth spread the tomato slices on a large plate and sprinkled them with salt, then set the plate on the table and took a seat opposite me.
I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth, grateful when she slid a smaller plate and fork in front of me, and said, "Dig in."
Nothing tastes better than fresh-picked tomatoes that have been grown in your own garden, unless they're your neighbor’s tomatoes and you didn't have to do any of the work of growing them. I slid my eager fork under a slice and lifted it onto my plate. Normally, I would just pick it up with my hands and shove the whole thing in my mouth, but I was trying to be polite. I cut off a wedge and slid it onto my tongue, reveling in how the salt enhanced the slightly acidic tang.
Across from me, Elspeth daintily chewed a slice of tomato. Lewis jumped into her lap, purring contentedly. Ranger's eyes traveled from the tomatoes to Elspeth to me and he inched closer to Elspeth, extending his nose toward the table for a sniff. Lewis must not have been too keen on having a big dog nose in his face and his paw shot out, whacking Ranger on the head and causing the dog to retreat.
"Now, Lewis, stop that." Elsepth's eyes crinkled at the corners as she looked fondly at him and the cat answered her with an asthmatic purr. "He keeps hitting the other cats like that. I think it's his way of keeping them in line. He has asthma, so I think he might need to lash out sometimes. Anyway, tell me about the goings on since I've been out of town."
I told her about Bruce's death and how Steve Van Dorn was selling off Charles' household items.
"Bing said you were friends with Charles," I added, reaching for another slice of tomato.
"I was. Actually, I was better friends with Bruce. We'd gone to school together since kindergarten and I met Charles through him. 'Course, I hadn't seen much of Bruce for several decades. He became somewhat of a recluse after everything that happened with Charles and Lily."
"Did you ever go to any of Charles' parties?"
"Of course. I wasn't always this old, you know." Her light blue eyes sparkled with the memories. "Oh, we used to have a lot of fun. Charles was very talented, you know … even Bing had to admit that."
"Do you think Bruce's murder is related to the murders back then? He was found in the back yard."
Her eyes turn to steel, her mouth pressed in a grim line. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, it just makes sense. I mean, Bruce hung around there back in the day. The house has been closed up for decades and then, just as it's about to be opened and looked through again, Bruce is found dead in the back yard. Plus, I don't think those older deaths were looked into very carefully."
"Why not?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
I shrugged. "I looked at the files because I got suspicious. You know how I am." I didn't want to tell her I'd gotten it straight from the horse’s mouth—Charles.
She chuckled. "Yes, I do. It does seem like an odd coincidence. I never thought Charles killed himself and neither did Bruce."
"No?"
"Oh, no. He was too happy. Not the type."
"Well, apparently he couldn’t live with himself after he killed Lily," I said as a way to see what Elspeth thought about Charles having killed lily.
"So the police said. What reason would he have to kill her?"
It was a good question. Charles' ghost swore he didn't kill her and I hadn't come across any reason for it. But, then the question was who did kill Lily. Maybe Gladys did if Lily found out about their affair … or maybe it had something to do with the mysterious Claire Voyant.
"Do you remember someone named Claire Voyant from back then?"
Elspeth made a face like she'd just swigged grapefruit juice. "Indeed, I do."
"You didn't like her? I saw her in some pictures at the Van Dorns' but I also read an article about how they were rivals, so I couldn’t figure out why he would have invited her to his parties."
"Oh." Elspeth waved her hand. "They both were in the same business, you know. Spiritual mediums and such, but also they were both somewhat of a celebrity ... "Her voice trailed off and she gave me a knowing look.
"What's that got to do with it?"
"Well, you know how those show people are. Big egos and bad tempers."
"Do you think she could have had anything to do with Lily and Charles' deaths?"
"Why do you say that?"
"She's suddenly shown up in town with a different name."
"A different name? How odd. Was she here when Bruce died?"
"I'm not sure, but I can find out … she's staying with the Bates’."
"Idris Bates?" Elspeth's blue eyes grew large on her delicate face.
I nodded.
She frowned down at the table, petting Lewis absently. "You said you were cataloguing Van Dorn's books, right?"
"Yes."
"You didn't happen to find any handwritten journals, did you?"
My brows mashed together so hard it almost hurt. Now Elspeth was asking for the journals, too? What was going on with these, and did they have something to do with the murders?
"No, but several people have asked."
"Who?" Elspeth looked concerned
"Bing, and Claire. She came to my shop with Felicity Bates, actually."
"Well, if you find them, for goodness sake, don't give them to the Bates’."
"Why not?"
"Oh, well … err… you know how those people are. They're mean and they don't deserve Charles' journals." Elspeth shook her head. "You give them to Bing."
"Okay." I was planning on it anyway because I didn't like the Bates family. I didn't realize Elspeth felt the same.
"What do you know about Gladys Primble?" If Elspeth knew Charles, she probably knew the housekeeper. Maybe she'd have some insight as to their relationship or why he left her money.
"Gladys? You mean Charles' housekeeper?"
"Yes, they were very friendly, I hear."
"True, they were. She was very good."
"Almos
t too friendly, though."
Elspeth eyed me curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Charles left her a sum of money in his will."
"Oh, really? That is odd."
"I was wondering why he might do that, and the only thing I could come up with was that they were having some sort of affair."
"An affair?" She looked at me incredulously. "Certainly not. Why would you say that?"
"Well, it’s odd that he left her money, and I happen to know that he was having some sort of affair he wanted to keep secret. I figured it could be Gladys because she was married so they wouldn’t want anyone to know." I leaned across the table. "I heard Lily was sweet on Charles, so I was thinking maybe Gladys didn't like that and confronted Lily. Maybe things got out of hand and she killed her, or maybe she intended to kill her. Maybe Charles found out and she killed him, too. Then when the house was opened up again, she got nervous and went back to make sure there was no evidence lying around. Bruce just happened to be there and she had to kill him to keep him quiet."
Elspeth's lips curled at the corners. "That’s a pretty good theory, except it can't be right."
"Why not? Is it because Gladys is too old now? I saw her chopping wood and she's physically capable of hitting Bruce with a club, plus Bruce had a whole file on the Van Dorn deaths fifty years ago at his place, so he might have figured out Gladys did it and confronted her."
"It's got nothing to do with Gladys being old, and you're right, Charles was having a love affair that he wanted to keep secret, but it wasn't with Gladys Primble."
"Who was it with?"
"Bruce Norton."
***
Pandora sat on Elspeth's black and white tile kitchen floor pretending to ignore the humans, but actually taking a keen interest in what they were saying. She hoped what Elspeth was revealing would lead Willa in the right direction.
"Are you coming, or what?" Tigger, Elspeth's orange tomcat, sat beside her, glaring at the fluffy Siamese in Elspeth's lap.
"What's with him?" Pandora jerked her head toward the lap cat.
"He's new … and quite bossy," Tigger said. "As you can see, my human is coddling him because he has asthma and he is taking full advantage of her sympathies."
"I can see," Pandora replied. "He keeps hitting everyone. What a control freak."
"Well, that will soon stop. However, he is of no use to us right now and your presence is requested in the barn."
"Oh, all right." Pandora turned and trotted out of the room behind Tigger to Lewis' victorious meow—apparently, the newcomer saw their departure as some sort of accomplishment. Pandora chuckled to herself as she pictured how Otis would set this cat straight.
They padded over to the screen door at the front of the house. Tigger jumped up, expertly turning the knob so that the door cracked open. He slipped his paw into the crack and opened the door, then they all slipped out and trotted across the yard, Pandora feeling a hot breath on her shoulder. She turned to see Ranger following right behind her.
"You don't have to come this time."
"What? I want to."
"Well, it's not necessary, and I don't think the other cats like you. I'm not even sure I like you."
"But, I helped find the murder weapon."
Pandora narrowed her eyes at him. "As I recall, I was the one that found that."
"No. I don’t think so. I led you to the area and told you where the bad man went."
"But I—"
"Stop it," Tigger said. "Let him come. This won’t take long."
Pandora shrugged and trotted into the barn, doing a mental eye-roll. Was the creature going to follow her everywhere now? She certainly hoped not; having a dog tag along could ruin her reputation. She said a silent prayer to the goddess of cats, Bastet, that Willa would soon find him another home.
Inside the barn, the cats had circled around an orange, curly-furred cat. Inkspot looked up as they entered, his lip curling as his eyes fell on Ranger.
"Euphoria here has some enlightening news," he said.
Euphoria turned to Pandora, her yellow eyes glowing in the dimness of the barn. Pandora noticed with amusement that Otis had come down from his usual high perch atop the hay bale and was sitting next to the curvy feline.
"What is it?" Pandora asked.
"Euphoria's human is the one who served the keeper of secrets," Truffles said.
"Does she know where the important thing is?" Pandora asked.
Otis smirked. "You mean the thing that you led us on a wild goose chase for?"
"It wasn't wild. There was something there, I tell you," Pandora hissed.
Euphoria reached out to touch Otis' large paw with her delicate one. "She may be right. My human recently came into possession of something of great importance regarding the fight between good and evil."
"You mean you know about that?" Pandora asked incredulously. She thought only the cats that frequented the barn were in on the big secret.
Euphoria nodded sagely.
"So we don't need to worry about this thing anymore?" Sasha's gray-tipped fur furrowed between her eyes.
"That remains to be seen." Inkspot's baritone cut through the air. "We don't yet know what Euphoria's human plans to do with it."
"So what should we do?" Pandora asked.
"We wait. We watch. And we get ready to take action."
Chapter Twenty-Two
I sat in stunned silence on my living room sofa, a salt shaker in one hand and one of Elspeth's plump, juicy tomatoes in the other. I ate the tomato like an apple, sprinkling salt on each bite, hoping it would help me digest the information Elspeth had delivered about Bruce and Charles.
My distracted gaze fell on the glass orb on my coffee table, as the clues whirled around in my head. The orb was glowing red, reflecting the color from the tomato in my hand, only much brighter. I leaned forward for a closer look and it appeared as if snow was falling inside like a snow globe.
That’s odd, I thought. Then I noticed the salt shaker in my hand had tipped and was spilling on the table. The falling granules of salt must have been reflected in the orb. I threw some of the spilled salt over my left shoulder and returned to my thoughts. A niggling voice in my head told me something wasn't right … of course, something wasn't right. My carefully built theory about Gladys and Charles had just been blown to smithereens.
This changed everything, but when I thought about it, it made sense… back then, their relationship would have been less acceptable. It might have even ruined Charles’s career. No wonder the letters had sounded so desperate that no one could find out … especially Lily.
But where did that leave me with my Gladys theory? And how did Lily's murder figure into it? Or Bruce's, for that matter.
I tried to visualize what I'd seen at Bruce Norton's house in my mind. Was there a clue on his table that I'd overlooked? I thought about the cuttlebone. Jimmy had said they were for birds, but there were no birds in any of the Van Dorn pictures. And how could a bird be a clue, anyway? Maybe cuttlebones had other uses?
That brought me back to the link between Bruce's murder and the murders fifty years ago. Maybe Bruce was going back to the house to get the love letters when he was killed? But why kill him? Obviously, whoever killed Bruce didn't want to be seen at the Van Dorn house, so it had to be the killer from fifty years ago. But who else was old enough? The only other people I could think of were Elspeth and Claire.
Elspeth had been out of town when Bruce was killed, so it couldn’t be her.
I rummaged in my leather hobo bag that slouched on the couch beside me, pulled out the silver business card holder and slipped out Claire's card. Even though I really didn't want to, I had to talk to her.
Claire was quickly bubbling up to the top of my suspect list. She'd been in town during all three murders, she had a rivalry with Charles and she seemed very eager to get her hands on those journals. I had no idea what was in them, but several people were acting like they were very important and I had to wonder if the
y were important enough for someone to kill three people over them.
Claire answered on the first ring.
"Hi, Claire, this is Willa Chance from the bookstore."
"Yes, Willa. Did you find the journal?" Her voice raised a hopeful octave at the end of the sentence.
"No. Sorry. No journal. But I did find some photo albums and it looks like you're in them."
"Well, it's no secret I was a contemporary of Charles Van Dorn."
"So, you admit were around when Lily Johanson and Charles died?"
"Yeees." She drew the word out and I wondered if it was because she didn't like the direction the conversation was taking.
"And you knew Bruce Norton."
"Of course. Willa, what are you trying to say?"
"It’s just that there’re a lot of unanswered questions from all the deaths and you're one of the few people who was around at the times of all three of them."
A sigh came over the line. "I don't know why you would care about fifty-year-old cold cases, but if you're implying something wasn't right about them, I would agree."
My brows flew up in surprise. I had expected her to deny any knowledge, or get mad, or hang up on me, or maybe even all three. "You thought something wasn't right back then?"
"Yep. Look, If you wanna talk, I'm at Earline's Diner. They're open until ten. You can meet me here if you want."
It was eight thirty and I could get there in ten minutes. Plenty of time. "Okay, see you in ten minutes."
I snapped the phone shut and sank back into the couch. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to meet with Claire. After all, she hung around with Felicity Bates and one of the Bates family members had tried to kill me before. Not to mention that Claire, herself, probably had something to hide if she'd changed her name. She could even be the one who killed Charles, Lily and Bruce.
But all my clues that had been fitting nicely into place were now torn apart and she was the only one I could think of who might have an answer.
Besides, we were meeting in a diner. What could she possibly do to me in public?
***
The neon sign of Earline's Diner cut through the dark night like a beacon. The large glass windows showed two lone customers inside, sitting several booths apart, reminiscent of an Edward Hopper painting.
A Spirited Tail #2 Mystic Notch Series Page 17
