Murder In The Family

by Leonie Mateer

  “You have said you were all abused by your parents and that your brother killed them to protect you. You knew about this but didn’t tell the police until just a few days ago.”

  “The death of our brother and his caregiver opened up the case again. We couldn’t keep the truth to ourselves any longer. It was time to close the case once and for all. Our brother was dead – he couldn’t be hurt anymore.”

  “You mention your brother’s caregiver. We heard this morning someone is being held for questioning in connection with her death.”

  “Is that right?” said Audrey. “No, I have not heard about that.”

  “We also have heard her body has been exhumed and that a toxicology test was performed. Do you think she was drugged or poisoned?”

  “That is for the police to find out. I had presumed she died from the shock of finding my brother dead. They were very close, you know.”

  “But she was a fortune teller, a scammer and a blackmailer. Do you think it was one of her clients who killed her?”

  “If the police have someone in for questioning, then maybe it was. I have to say I was surprised to learn she was not the church-attending woman I thought she was.”

  “Well, we have run out of time. But we wish you all the best, Audrey.”

  “Thank you.” Audrey was pleased it was over. She just hoped her interview would solidify the perception of her innocence and encourage the police to let sleeping dogs lie. After all, they had bigger fish to fry. Of course she had heard that Deacon James was brought into custody yesterday. She had talked to Detective Bromley before James was arrested. He had asked her if she had seen James at her brother’s house when she arrived the night of Greta’s death. Had she seen his car? Audrey was surprised to hear he had been there that night. Had he seen her?

  She had confided in the detective that she had been visited by the Deacon’s wife who wanted to see Greta’s diary notes. Naomi James was apparently acting as her husband’s attorney. The detective thought it strange she was representing her husband who hadn’t, at that time, any reason to have legal representation. Did they both have something to hide? Did she know something he didn’t know? He made a note to check they had done a thorough search of her home, office and vehicle.

  C H A P T E R 9 1

  Naomi James knew that Audrey Wetherby had something to do with her husband being taken in for questioning. Her visit to Audrey was a mistake and one she knew she would regret for a long time. Very seldom did Naomi let her emotions get the better of her. But the need to find out the name of her husband’s lover was driving her crazy. As soon as she met Audrey, she didn’t trust the woman. Of course Audrey had copies of Greta’s client notes. A woman like that would not have handed everything to the police. It takes a schemer to know a schemer. And Audrey Wetherby was a schemer. Of that she had no doubt.

  All that business with her parents’ deaths – blaming it all on her dead brother. Naomi knew there was more to the story than Audrey was telling. She called her PI friend and asked him to do a background search on Audrey. She wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

  For hours the police searched their home and Steve’s office at the church. Nothing. She knew they would find nothing. They had confiscated Steve’s car at the hotel and taken it for forensic testing. What the hell they were looking for, she had no idea. Her car was in the workshop getting repaired. Something to do with the electrical system. It would not be ready until the end of the week. She was using a company car in the meantime, which they had also confiscated.

  The police also took boxes of Steve’s files and his computer away. Naomi wished she had found Steve’s cell phone. She was sure the police would have it by now.

  The house phone rang. It was a woman from Steve’s church. She was looking for Steve. It was urgent. Naomi explained he was not there. Could she take a message? The woman sounded agitated. “No,” she said. “Just tell him to call me as soon as he can. It is about Craig. He will know what I’m referring to.”

  Craig? She wondered if it was the same young Craig who worked at her firm. “Your name?” she asked.

  The woman just left her phone number. “Please, it is urgent.”

  Naomi wrote down the phone number and put it in her pocket. She was due at the police station. They were questioning Steve and she wanted to be there. She would get him out of there. They had no evidence, nothing to hold him. She needed to clear his name quickly and repair any damage that had already been done, in order to try to salvage her career.

  She called a cab.

  C H A P T E R 9 2

  Detective Bromley sat facing Deacon James across the desk in the small interrogation room. They were alone. Others were watching out of sight.

  “We have evidence you visited Greta the night she died.” Bromley got straight to the point. “What were you doing there?”

  “I went to ask her to stop blackmailing me.”

  “Did you threaten her?”

  “I told her that if she didn’t stop she would be sorry.”

  “Did you see or hear Ben Brown while you were there?”

  “No. He must have been sleeping.”

  “Or was he dead?”

  “I have no idea. I didn’t see him or hear him.”

  “So you and Greta had an argument. Can you tell me what she said when you threatened her?”

  “She said she was leaving anyway. She had booked a ticket on the bus to Auckland. She was packing her suitcase.”

  “You saw her packing her suitcase?”

  “Yes, I followed her into her bedroom. I was so mad when she walked away from me. I hadn’t finished venting and I was surprised to see her packing everything she owned and putting it into an old red suitcase. She had emptied every drawer. They were left open and the wardrobe was empty. I remember thinking I didn’t have to worry as she was leaving.”

  Bromley remembered the Oleander poisoning. “Was she making tea or preparing any drinks when you were there?”

  “No, but I saw a big pot of water on the stove.

  She had just turned the stove on when I arrived there. I guess she was making tea or something. I left her packing her suitcase in the bedroom and took off. She told me she was leaving for good and not coming back and I need not worry. She wouldn’t contact me again.”

  “Did you believe her?”

  “I didn’t have much choice. It wasn’t until later when I heard she had died that I worried she may have kept notes of our meetings. That is when I contacted her nephew and asked him to look for any notebook or diary.”

  “And her nephew found it and gave it to you?”

  “Well, actually it wasn’t her nephew. It was Audrey Wetherby. She found the notebook and handed it to me when I drove up to meet with her nephew. She said she had found it in her brother’s possessions. She made me promise to burn it. And I did. I had no idea she had kept a copy.”

  The door opened and Naomi James entered the room. “Steve, you don’t have to answer any questions. Detective Bromley, my client wishes to say nothing more.” She looked at Steve. “Come on Steve, I am getting you out of here.” She looked at the detective. “That is unless you have grounds to keep him here?” She asked.

  “I could keep him here on a charge of possession of a firearm without a license,” he said.

  “Steve does not own a gun. I do and I have a license.” She looked at her husband. “What were you doing with a gun?”

  “I don’t know. I wasn’t planning on hurting anyone. Just myself,” he replied.

  “Take him,” said the detective. “He is all yours. But don’t go too far away. We will have more questions,” he said to Steve as Naomi took his arm and led him out of the room.

  “Why the bloody hell did you take my gun?” Naomi asked. “You certainly have screwed everything up.”

  “I didn’t kill Greta,” he said.

  “Of course you didn’t,” said Naomi, “but you sure have made a mess of things.”

  Detect
ive Bromley walked into his office, picked up the Deacon’s cell phone and began to scan through the messages. What he read explained a lot. The good Deacon was having an affair with a guy named Craig. Now, that was a surprise. He bet the beautiful Naomi James had no idea. He dialed Craig’s number and got a voice message. “Detective Bromley here, I would appreciate it if you would return my call.” He left his number and sat back in his chair.

  Somehow he couldn’t imagine Deacon James poisoning Greta Baywater. And, furthermore, he had learned something that altered the course of the investigation; Greta had packed her suitcase and bought a ticket to Auckland. So why did the crime scene notes say her room was neat and tidy and there was an empty suitcase on top of the wardrobe? He had been perturbed by the awkward angle of the suitcase in such an immaculate room. It was as though someone else had put it there. Had someone unpacked her suitcase to make it look as though she was not leaving and then murdered her and made it look like suicide? But who would have done that? Who would want the old lady dead before she left town? And why had they not taken her notebook and destroyed it? Did her murder have nothing to do with blackmailing? Was it always about the Brown murders thirty years ago?

  C H A P T E R 9 3

  Matt Walters had promised Honey he would meet up with her in London. However, he just couldn’t see himself leaving now that he’d heard the news his aunt had been poisoned and the police suspected foul play. He had called Honey to explain and the sweet woman said she was coming home on the next flight. He had missed her robust laugh and silly hats. As a surprise he had collected her cats from the cattery and taken them home to her place. He watered her plants, did some grocery shopping and headed off to the airport to meet her plane.

  Honey looked a million dollars pushing her trolley overflowing with suitcases. He could see she had been shopping in London. He swept her up in his arms and she glowed with happiness. “You are such a dear coming to meet me. I missed you so much. It is so great to be back.”

  On the way back home, Matt filled her in on what had been going on. “It would appear that the emphasis has shifted from your parents’ murders to my aunt’s murder. Although they are not calling it murder, they now know she was poisoned and there was no trace of the poison in the house at the time of her death.”

  “That is awful! Do they suspect anyone?” she asked.

  “I heard they took Deacon James in for questioning. There was some talk of him having a gun or something. But his wife, who is a lawyer, got him released. I will call Detective Bromley tomorrow and see if he has any further information. He is handling the case now that Higgins is dead.”

  Honey crashed on her sofa and hugged her cats.

  “What have I done to deserve you?” She removed her new boots and flung off her coat. “It was so cold in London. I’m so happy I’m back.”

  “Was it nice getting to know Becka?”

  “Funny you should ask that. Becka acts friendly but isn’t. If you know what I mean? We have very little in common. I just wanted to tour the city, go shopping and see some shows. Becka seemed pre-occupied – restless. I think she was pleased to see me go.”

  “Well, I am happy you are back.” Matt opened a bottle of her favorite wine and they sat talking until Honey said, “I’m starved. What do we have to eat?” He laughed. She was home. He doubted he would be going home to his house any time soon. How could he leave this wonderful, vibrant, sexy woman? “How about a shrimp stir-fry?” he suggested.

  C H A P T E R 9 4

  Awkward would not even come close to describing the atmosphere in the James household. Steve James was shocked to see what the police had done to the house. Drawers open, papers everywhere. What the hell were they looking for? They had even removed the cushions from the sofa and the bedding from the beds. His computer was gone and they had taken his cell phone. All he could do was wait until he was exposed as a homosexual, “a poofter”. It wasn’t that New Zealand was homophobic, it wasn’t, but his church was. And his wife would be horrified and shamed by it.

  Naomi had not said much since they had returned home. She had insisted that he stay at home until everything got sorted out. He figured the embarrassment her husband’s arrest caused her was enough to deal with without the added trauma of his extramarital affair.

  He watched her methodically putting her office in order. Returning files, straightening up her desk. He felt sorry for her. He never meant to hurt her. She was not a warm woman. Most of her colleagues described her as cold and unapproachable, but she demanded very little of him either sexually or emotionally.

  Naomi joined him in the lounge and poured them both a drink. “Oh, I forgot, a woman from your church called and wants you to call her.” She handed him the phone number. “She said it was about Craig and you would know what she was referring to. The woman sounded quite frantic.”

  Steve couldn’t hide his shock. Fuck! The whole church will know now. He put the note it in his pocket.

  “I’ll call her later,” he said. “I can’t deal with church business right now.”

  Naomi considered her husband’s obvious distress. “You know you can tell me anything,” she said. “You didn’t have anything to do with Greta’s death, did you Steve?”

  “I can’t believe you are asking me. Of course I didn’t.”

  “Why did the police want to talk to you? You should have waited until I got there before answering any questions. I need to know if I am going to get you out of this.”

  “They just wanted to know whom Greta was blackmailing.” How could he explain why he had gone to see Greta that night? “Look, Naomi, I just can’t talk about it tonight. I need to get some sleep. I haven’t slept in a couple of days. Can we talk about this tomorrow?” Tomorrow she would know everything. It was a small town. News travelled fast. He closed the door of the guest bedroom, sat on the bed and looked at the note. He had nothing to say to Craig’s mother. He knew he couldn’t go in to work tomorrow and face his congregation. Why hadn’t Craig returned his calls? Now the police had his phone. He could see no way out of this. He was ruined.

  C H A P T E R 9 5

  Detective Bromley had called his team together. He listened as they reported their findings from the past couple of days.

  “We found a neighbor across the street from Ben Brown’s home who said he saw a car pull out of that driveway about seven o’clock that evening,” reported one of his team members. “He remembered because he thought it looked like Deacon James. He is a member of his church. But the man was driving a Mercedes, not his usual Ford Explorer. He said the man left in a hurry.”

  “Did he see him arrive?” asked Bromley.

  “The constable looked at his notes. “He said the car had been there for about half an hour or so. He was mowing the lawns at the time and didn’t see the man arrive, only saw him leave.”

  “I have spoken to a neighbor who thinks they saw a lady walking towards the Brown house just upon dusk. It was getting dark and she couldn’t see who it was but she said it she could tell it was a woman by the way she walked.”

  “She didn’t come in a car?”

  “No, she was on foot, apparently.”

  “Anyone else?” Bromley asked his team. No one responded.

  “I couldn’t find any record of Ben’s sister, Becka, traveling to or from London during the past couple of weeks,” another team member advised.

  “She can’t have flown by stork!” Bromley was annoyed. “Keep on it! Anything else?”

  “We have researched Oleander poisoning and it would appear that Greta Baywater could have consumed the plant in various forms. It is impossible to know when and how she had access to it. But we did find the plant in her garden. It is a common plant here in New Zealand.”

  Bromley wasn’t getting anywhere. The information just confirmed what he already knew. “I need you to follow up on who the woman was who visited the Brown home after Deacon James. I have learned that Greta Baywater was packing to leave on a bus trip to Aucklan
d and yet, when her body was found, there was no sign of a packed suitcase in the house. All her clothes had been returned to their original place. This indicates that someone either made her change her mind or they killed her and replaced the garments to make it look like she had not planned on leaving. This is a major game changer. We need to know who was with her the night of her death.”

  When the team dispersed, Bromley wondered why Deacon James was driving a Mercedes the night he visited Greta. He called his forensics team and asked if they had searched a Mercedes car belonging to the James family. He learned that no Mercedes was present on the property the day they did their search. “Find the Mercedes!” Bromley bellowed into the phone.

  C H A P T E R 9 6

  Mary Hastings’ world was collapsing around her. Now she regretted going to police and handing over Greta’s blackmailing notes. She heard that Greta had been poisoned and that Deacon James was taken in for questioning. News traveled fast in their church. Gossip was paramount in their close friendships. But this gossip was going to destroy her.

  Yesterday, her son, Craig, confessed he had been having an affair with Deacon James. Her beautiful son who had worked so hard to become the young lawyer she was so proud of. To make matters worse, he worked in the same firm as Deacon James’ wife, Naomi. She had never really met Naomi. But heard she was as tough as nails, a cold woman.

  Mary had always suspected her son was gay. It didn’t really bother her but they never spoke about it. Her church was not forgiving when it came to homosexuality. She loved her son no matter what. But his confession of their affair was bought on by Deacon James’ arrest yesterday. Craig realized his association with the Deacon could ruin his career. Would ruin his career. Once Naomi James found out, it was likely that he would be fired. Craig was devastated. Mary had left a message for Deacon James to call her. She was still waiting for the call.