by Morgana Best
Of course, the first thing I did was lock the car doors. I kept the car to a crawl, all the time reaching out with my mind to Mrs. Cornford. No response whatsoever. My fingers gripped the steering wheel, and if I could see my knuckles, I’m sure they would be white. I just couldn’t rest until I knew the killer’s identity.
I was almost at Mrs. Cornford’s house before I sensed her spirit. “Is the murderer inside your house at the moment?” I asked her.
“No.”
I breathed a huge sigh of relief, but to be on the safe side, I turned the car around and pointed it in the direction of home, and kept the engine running. “Mrs. Cornford, you said if I got the bracelet you would tell me who the murderer was.”
“I want to tell you who the murder is,” she said. “It’s my nephew.”
“Your nephew?” I echoed. “Boris McIntosh? But why, why? Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said. “I remember it all clearly now. He always told everyone that his first wife ran away with another man. But when I found the bracelet, I knew he was lying. That bracelet was her mother’s, a family heirloom. Maria loved that bracelet. If she ran away with another man, she would’ve taken that bracelet with her for sure. That’s how I knew that my nephew had murdered her.”
That wasn’t at all what I had expected to hear. “But then why did he murder you? How did he know you’d found out?”
The ghost hesitated for a while, and I knew she didn’t want to tell me. I didn’t know whether to prompt her or wait for her to speak, but while I was deciding, she spoke again. “I wanted renovations done, but I couldn’t afford them. I got a credit card, and started to have the house renovated, and when I was cleaning out the fireplace ready for the builders, I found the bracelet down the back of the grate. I knew at what that meant, so I thought a good place to hide it would be behind the brick.”
“And you told your nephew?” I asked incredulously. “Surely you’d know that was dangerous?”
“I told him I wouldn’t tell anyone. I told him I’d keep my mouth shut, if he gave me twenty thousand dollars.”
“Blackmail?” I squeaked. “You blackmailed your nephew?”
Again, the ghost hesitated to answer me for a while. “He wasn’t a very nice person, was he? He murdered his own wife, after all. I needed twenty thousand dollars to pay down on my credit card. I wasn’t going to tell anyone.”
I thought this over for a minute. “And you’re sure your nephew isn’t in or around your house now?”
“No, he’s not here now.”
“So the police never investigated his wife’s disappearance?”
“No. She wasn’t seeing another man, I was sure of that at the time. But he’d set it up well and told everyone for a long time that he knew she was having an affair. She didn’t have any girlfriends because he didn’t like anyone else taking time away from him. She had to report where she was to him at all times. He was a control freak, and he was physically abusive.”
“Was there any police record of domestic abuse, as far you know?” I asked.
“Of course not,” she said. “She was too afraid to go to the police, and she didn’t have any family. Anyway, he did away with her, and he did away with me, too. My nephew and Maria used to mind my house when I went to stay with my friend, Mabel. But Mabel died over five years ago, so I don’t go anywhere now. They were house sitting my house, when his wife disappeared.”
“Why did you need someone to house sit your house?” I asked her. I thought, but of course didn’t say aloud, that it was a ramshackle old house with nothing of value.
“It doesn’t look like it does now,” she said. “Well, maybe it does inside, but outside I had an extensive vegetable garden, and five pet donkeys. I also had five cats, and my niece loved looking after the animals. That poor woman had a terrible life with that beast of a man. Please make sure he goes to prison for murder.”
“Yes, I’ll certainly do my best,” I assured her. “I’ll call the police now.”
“Oh, there’s one thing I haven’t told you,” she said.
I waited patiently.
“My nephew saw the brick and the knife in the fireplace. He probably looked there because he saw the soot on the floor, and I think he figured that someone had found a bracelet.”
I went cold all over. I was fairly certain he hadn’t seen me, but he knew that someone had been there. He knew someone had found the bracelet. And I was the closest neighbor. And Mary had whined her distinctive dingo howl.
I sped off, but moments later, something darted across the road. I swung the wheel instinctively, and went into a skid. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, and the next thing I knew, I hit a sapling. The engine was still running, but making a spluttering sound. I managed to reverse the car out of the bushes, but ran over some old corrugated iron on the side of the road. I expect the builders had stacked it there.
The old bushman’s saying, “The kangaroo you see is never the one you’ll hit,” came to mind, but it wasn’t a kangaroo I had narrowly missed; it was a wombat. The big fat creature sat on the side of the road, seemingly mocking me.
The car hobbled up the road, and was making a strange rhythmic sound. It took me a few moments to realize that it was a flat tire. The iron no doubt had jagged edges. I did not care how badly I had damaged the rim; I just had to get to safety.
When I got to my house, I reversed the car, leaving it facing the direction of the street just in case had to make a quick getaway. I turned off the engine, but kept the doors locked. I didn’t know if the nephew had put two and two together and figured I was the one who had found the bracelet, but I wasn’t taking any chances. If he’d heard Mary, then he’d know it was me for sure. I called Larry at once, but he wasn’t answering his phone.
I tried about five times to get onto Larry, but he didn’t answer. There was nothing else for it—I would have to call Alum. No sooner had I decided to do so, than he called me. I jumped so hard that I nearly dropped the phone. “Alum!”
“Prudence! Where are you? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“I’m at home,” I said, feeling like a complete idiot.
“Home?” he repeated. “You went home? Without me? Why?”
“I feel a bit embarrassed about it, Alum, but I’ve got some important information to tell you.”
“Why are you embarrassed?”
I sighed. “I heard what you and Larry said.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
I sighed again. He wasn’t going to make it easy on me. “I heard what you said to Larry about me, and so I got a taxi home.”
“You were so upset by what I said to Larry that you left?” Alum’s voice held a good measure of disbelief.
I took some consolation in the fact that this conversation was over the phone and not in person. That was marginally less embarrassing. “Yes, I was upset because you told Larry I had to be kept at arms’ length.”
“But Prudence, I just don’t want you to be in danger. I don’t want you to quit working for the police as a consultant, but I simply wanted to make sure Larry didn’t put you into a dangerous situation. Did you overhear him tell me the whole story of what happened to Jim Burns?”
I had no idea what Alum was talking about, and I said so.
“You said you were so upset over the conversation that you left,” Alum said patiently.
I took a moment to think it over. “Was that conversation purely and solely about you not wanting me to be placed in danger as a consultant to the police?” I asked him. “Nothing else at all?”
“Of course,” Alum said. “Prudence, what did you think it was about?”
I was immensely relieved, but I had no time to think about it. “I know who the murderer is,” I blurted out. “Boris McIntosh.”
“The nephew? Prudence, where are you?”
“I’m sitting in my locked car outside my house, because I’m too scared to run the short distance into my house. I can’t drive anywhere
because I have a flat tire, down to the rim by the sound of it.”
“Stay where you are, and keep the doors locked. I’ll be right there.” I heard Alum calling out to Larry, before he spoke to me again. “Does he know you’re onto him?”
“No, I don’t think so, but it’s possible.”
“Prudence, whatever you do, don’t get out of the car. I’ll call you back as soon as we’re on the way, and that’ll be any second now. Prudence, stay safe.” With that, he hung up.
I put my phone on the seat next to me, and looked around. There was still barely any moonlight to be seen.
All of a sudden, I sensed rather than heard movement behind me, and then I saw a man standing at my window. I screamed.
“Sorry to scare you, Mrs. Wallflower. It’s me, Boris McIntosh. I see you have a flat. Do you want some help?”
“I’m just waiting for friends,” I said, hoping my voice didn’t sound as shaken to him as it did to me. “They’ll be here any minute to change it for me.”
“I heard everything you said,” he said. “Just hand me the bracelet now, and I won’t harm you.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?” I said. “You killed your aunt, and you killed your wife.”
He snorted rudely. “The old duck had it coming. She tried to blackmail me. Now give me the bracelet, and I’ll leave town. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“How stupid do I look?” I said. I madly turned the key in the ignition, while he ran around the car, frantically trying to open all the doors. The engine spluttered and I tried again. If the car would start, I intended to drive away fast.
The car gave one splutter, just as he smashed a rock through my window. I screamed with fright as glass shattered over me. He tried to reach for the keys. I grabbed my phone, which was now ringing, and hit his hand with it. “I’ve hidden the bracelet. If you hurt me, you’ll never find it,” I said.
He ignored me and reached for the keys. I hit the gas, but in my struggle, my foot slipped and he snatched the keys.
Just as he pulled the door open, I managed to slide across the passenger seat and jump out the other side of the car. He ran around after me, but I ran to the other side of the car. We ended up facing each other over the roof of the car. He was clutching another rock.
“Why did you throw the rock through my bedroom window?’
“What? I never did.”
My breath was coming in short bursts. “The bracelet’s in the house. You’ve got the keys. Unlock the door and help yourself to it.”
“Now who looks stupid?” he said. “You might have the bracelet on you now, and you’ll run as soon as I go into the house.”
“If you hit me with that rock, you’ll never know, and the cops will be here any minute.” All I had to do was keep him talking, but the Police Officers’ Ball was in the next town. I figured that the local officers were also attending the ball. It was going to take some time for help to reach me.
I did not know if I would be able to stall him until help arrived. Then I had an idea. I was still wearing the Art Deco bracelet. I was sure he could outrun me, so I had to do something. I knew he wouldn’t be able to see the bracelet in the darkness, but I also hoped that whatever moonlight there was would reflect on the diamantes on the bracelet.
I took it off my wrist and held it up, waving it to activate any reflective surfaces. “Here’s the bracelet,” I lied.
He froze to the spot.
“If you want it, you can have it,” I said, and then threw the bracelet as hard as I could into the bushes. As soon as he darted off after the bracelet, I sprinted for my front door. I wasn’t silly enough to leave my spare key in a potted plant, but I did have a fake rock key holder. I had bought it some time ago from a big hardware store, and it did look exactly like a rock, but it opened to conceal a key.
I ran straight for the rock, grabbed my key, and stuck it in the lock. I had always been irritated by movies where the main character fumbles with the key when she is in mortal danger. Luckily, that didn’t happen to me. The key slid straight in and the door opened. I made to slam it shut, but it opened with such force that I was thrown backward onto the floor.
Boris came for me, his face menacing. He reached down and harshly pulled me to my feet. I silently berated myself for leaving on the light inside the house.
He twisted my arm behind me, ignoring my pained yelps. “Where’s the bracelet?” he yelled.
Then it all happened at once. Mary shot across the room and sank her teeth into the man’s leg. The door was flung open once more, this time by uniformed police officers with guns. Hard on their heels were Larry and Alum.
“He killed Mrs. Cornford,” I said, but I didn’t have a chance to say anything else as Alum wrapped me in a bear hug.
As uniformed officers dragged the angry Boris out of my house, I gave Mary a treat for saving me. Alum wouldn’t leave my side.
I fetched the bracelet and told Larry and Alum the whole story. “This is a one of a kind antique piece,” I said, “and so it will prove that Boris murdered his wife.”
Larry interrupted me. “By the way, it was Robert Wrench who threw the rock through your bedroom window. He said he did it because he’d overheard you snooping around at the Council. He confessed to it, because his wife called us to tip us off. She’s going to divorce him.”
I nodded. “As for Boris’s wife, I know where she’s buried. He threw her down the well behind Mrs. Cornford’s house and then filled in the well with rocks. It was a dry well,” I explained. “Alum, I know you’ll be angry that I went to Mrs. Cornford’s house alone when I said I wouldn’t, but her ghost was standing guard for me and I had Mary with me. Boris wasn’t in the house when I was there.”
Alum’s eyes narrowed. “Well, that didn’t do you much good, did it? Whether Boris was there or not, he still came here to kill you.”
“He saw the brick and the knife and realized that’s where the bracelet must’ve been. Mary howled—he’d know the dingo’s cry and would’ve realized I was nearby, or that’s what I assume. Anyway, this was an unusual situation, because the victim was my neighbor. I can’t imagine why being a consultant could possibly be dangerous for me in the future.” I said that as firmly as I could.
Larry beamed. “Well done, Prudence. I’m impressed. You’ve greatly exceeded all my expectations. Consider yourself hired as a full time salaried consultant from now on, that is, if Alum has no further objections to his wife being a consultant.”
“His wife?” I squealed.
Alum’s face turned a deep shade of red.
Chapter 23
“Would you excuse us, Larry? I need to talk to Prudence, alone.”
Larry covered his mouth. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry. Very sorry,” he mumbled, as he hurried out the door.
I continued to stare at Alum. I could feel my mouth hanging open in shock, so I shut it. I didn’t like to ask what he meant by that, so I was hoping that Alum would tell me.
“This isn’t quite how I planned it, Prudence,” Alum said ruefully. “Larry and his big mouth! I suppose you want me to explain.”
I couldn’t find my voice, so I nodded.
“I’ll do this properly, bended knee and all, once I get the ring,” Alum said.
My heart leaped out of my chest. He said some more words, but I could hardly take it in. Was this going where I thought it was going?
I finally found my voice. “But I thought you had friend-zoned me,” I said.
Alum looked shocked. “Why would you think that?”
I couldn’t think straight, so I simply shrugged.
Alum gently took my shoulders and pulled me into a long, lingering kiss. He pulled me closer. As his hands softly enveloped my waist, my knees went weak. I slid my arms around his neck, noticing the firmness of his upper body muscles.
Finally, we broke apart. “I take it your answer is yes?” Alum said hopefully.
“You haven’t asked the question yet,” I teased him.
> He pulled me closer. “I’ll ask the question when I have the ring.”
“And when you do that, the answer will be yes,” I said with a laugh.
My lips had just touched his once more when the door flew open for one more time that night. My three friends, Constance, Barbara, and Iris all stood there, all looking shocked at our embrace.
“It’s a wonder you got a man at your age. I thought you never would, you poor thing,” Iris said. “Good work, though.”
“Do you have a brother who’s single?” Barbara asked Alum. “I haven’t dated for ages.”
Constance pushed past everyone. “Mind if we have some wine? It’s all over town that several police vehicles rushed to your house, and we want to hear all about it. Oh no, what have I stepped in, again?”
My phone, now back in my pocket, buzzed. I pulled it out to read the text. My estranged daughter had chosen that moment to make contact again. Mom, can you put five hundred dollars in my account? It’s urgent.
Mary ran into the room and threw herself in front of Alum, requesting a belly rub. Possum and Lily hissed and ran out of the room.
I had weird friends and even weirder pets. My daughter was back in touch with me. I hoped the request for money was her way of reestablishing contact while saving face. Who would know? Real life wasn’t like The Brady Bunch. Time would tell. I once more had a successful career and could enjoy financial stability. And I had Alum. Yes, my life was crazy, but it was getting better.
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