“That powerful,” Sgt. Grimes replied.
“But why? What’s the motive? I have a hunch it goes back to Lilith’s disappearance in the eighties.”
“Who’s that?” Grimes asked.
Giles spoke up, “It’s all in the letters. Lilith is Beth Alewine’s sister. She mysteriously disappeared after a scandal of some kind.”
“Is she dead?” Grimes asked.
“Don’t know. But I believe Larry and/or Beth are covering up for something she is responsible for. Larry may not even know what it is either,” I said.
“Well, if he is willing to kill for it, he’d damn well better know what it is and how far he’s willing to go,” Sgt. Grimes replied. “Money talks but when it comes to crimes of this caliber, it can suddenly get laryngitis.” He laughed at his own clever remark.
Giles and I looked at each other. Maybe it was time to go to state or federal authorities. Especially if this was a crime of passion or involved some deep seated personal or political ties.
We made excuses and headed for home. Now I was getting worried. Sgt. Grimes appeared to know more than he was willing to say. The coroner was an Alewine cousin and there were plenty more relations on the town council.
On the way home, I confessed to Giles everything I had been keeping back about Ed Lawson, the notes in The Diva Code, the visits to Harry, Beth attending Lawson’s funeral service, the letters, and anything else I could think of. He was completely oblivious to everything, so I spent the next few hours bringing him up to speed.
“I would like for us to sit down and calmly record everything. Before we call in any authorities, we must appear organized, informed, and rational not like some crazies who see conspiracy and murder at every turn,” Giles said in his most authoritative tone.
I loved him even more when he used his professorial voice. I would follow him anywhere. He was a very wise person and with his help, we could get to the bottom of who killed Ed Lawson and why?
Giles retrieved the newspaper and the mail from the mailbox. I opened the storm door to put my key into the lock when a note fell onto the door sill.
NOSY PEOPLE DIE
12
Okay now I’m officially worried. Up until now, this had been an exercise in curiosity and justice. Now it was personal. I palmed the note before Giles could see it. No use upsetting him. One Nervous Nellie in the family was enough. But there was one person I could always confide in. I wonder when Uncle Harry went to bed.
~
Giles was exhausted mentally and physically. The last few weeks had been a roller coaster. We had a murder on our door tep. He found out his wife had a secret career plus she had mail from an admirer. He had to cancel his trip to work on his promotion dossier. And more recently, Hollywood personnel arrived with possible plans for his wife’s book, which had been clutched in a dead man’s hand. It was over the top emotionally.
I noticed people looking at us differently. Colleagues and friends were more standoffish and held back regular invitations. I worried that promotion and tenure were on the shelf for Giles. He had worked hard in his chosen profession and now with this furor, God only knows. I prayed that my hobby turned profession wouldn’t hinder his dream of becoming a full professor at the college.
On the bright side, book sales were at an all-time high. My agent, starstruck as she was now, was a marketing genius. She had managed color displays in the local bookstore and the major chain located in the mall. She rallied the town and had banners hung and appointments made.
How she managed to get t-shirts and totes bearing the Diva Code logo at such quick notice I’ll never know. It was almost embarrassing the amount of publicity I was getting – I said almost.
It was 11:30 p.m. and I dared to telephone Uncle Harry who promptly answered.
“Are you still up?” I asked.
“Of course,” he chuckled. “I have to watch the late news to see what’s happening in our corner of the world. By the way, who’s going to play me in the movie? I was thinking Robert Redford or maybe Sean Connery if he can manage my southern drawl.”
“Very funny. Can I come over? I’ve had a . . . development,” I asked.
“Yes. Shall I invite Mr. Coffee? Is it going to be a long night?”
“Perhaps. I don’t know yet better make it decaf.”
“And Uncle Harry. Did you get a chance to read the letters?”
“Well, as a matter of fact I did.”
“Giles read them today at the police station, but I am not sure how much he understood. I’d like to go over them with you tonight. Is that okay?” I asked.
“You know it is.”
13
Like a bolt of lightning I understood what Larry was trying to tell me in his cryptic notes and letters. Just who was Beth’s sister, Lilith? I hadn’t ever met her. Come to think of it I don’t think I had ever seen a picture of her. But Ed had.
Ed had also seen pictures of the Alewines plastered all over town. He had seen promos on television and put two and two together. Just what did he suspect was the connection? How much did he know for a fact? How much did Larry Alewine know?
Uncle Harry traced the ingredients needed for moonshine through his numerous secret liaisons. The only person in town who ordered them in huge supply was none other than the first family of our little burg.
So, we have means and opportunity but what of motive? I tagged a sorority sister who now is head of medical records in a southeastern regional facility. She compared two DNA samples that I provided with older ones preserved from the crime scene years ago. A match.
Now thanks to Harry’s vigilance and his back up of the poison theory I had everything I needed to go to the authorities.
At 2:00 A.M. we finished up and I headed to my car. I pulled out of the driveway and that’s all that I remember until waking up in a back room somewhere bound and gagged with a pounding headache.
I heard voices in the other room. Loud voices. Familiar voices.
“It was your idea to give him the moonshine,” said voice one.
“I didn’t know it was poison. I was just being friendly. Better him than me,” said voice two.
“You are indeed an idiot,” replied voice one. “This means we can be indicted for murder. Some lawyer you are!”
With that I was positive, this was Beth and Larry arguing over who poisoned Ed and why. It was fun to watch. Only one problem. Were they going to kill me too? If it was an accident, they could get off with a lesser charge but not if they murder someone in cold blood – namely me.
Not sure how long I listened to the back and forth diatribe when the doors slammed, and I heard vehicles cranking. If only I could get to my purse, I could phone 911 and get help. I didn’t know where I was but didn’t phones nowadays have GPS?
My feet were lashed together but I managed to get up on my knees and then stand straight up. I found a wall light switch and managed to turn it on. I realized then that I was in Larry’s campaign office in one of the storage rooms. They wouldn’t leave me here for long I had to act fast.
I hopped over to the desk and knocked the telephone off the hook. The operator answered but she couldn’t hear me with a gag in my mouth. I managed to turn around and pick up a pencil with my fingers and poke at the numbers. It must have been close enough because a 911 operator came on the line. I made loud noises and grunted into the receiver until I couldn’t make any more sounds. All the while I was quoted the consequences for making a prank emergency call.
Finally, I sank into the chair when I heard another car drive up. Quickly I doused the light and tried to hide behind a shelf of office supplies. If the Alewines were going to do me in, they had a fight on their hands.
The door opened, and I felt a stabbing pain. Then all went black.
14
“I thought you were going to pounce on me with your full body,” Harry chuckled.
When I heard Harry’s voice, I realized I was home. Giles was massaging my wrists and ankles where the ro
pes had been. My blouse was wet from all the water that had been forced down my throat. I reached out for the cup. My mouth was dry from the gag.
“Harry you saved the day, you old fox,” Giles said as he squeezed my hand. My mind was still a blur. I remembered being in the storage room but nothing else.
“I did nothing of the kind. I merely followed up on my gut. When Stephanie didn’t answer my text, I got worried. She told me about the threatening note. So, I took a flashlight outside and saw another set of tire tracks that shouldn’t have been there. Two and two my good man. Two and two.”
“Well I’m glad you called me so that we got Grimes and his men to round up Beth and Larry. The charges will either be murder or manslaughter,” Giles added. “I don’t care as long as Stephanie is okay, and they can’t hurt anyone else EVER.”
My head began to clear, and I was dying to ask, “Was Ed’s death an accident?”
“I don’t know but what I don’t get is why did Ed show up here in the first place?” Giles asked.
“Shall I tell him?” I asked Harry. I nodded and adjusted the ice pack on my neck.
“Because Ed realized that he was the father of the infant in the newspaper article he brought to Larry’s office. Ed and his then girlfriend, Lilith, were pregnant. Of course, Ed didn’t know it and couldn’t prove anything until he was released from prison and got DNA testing.”
“Lilith was Beth’s sister, right?” Giles asked.
“To hear her tell it, but there is no Lilith. It’s just one of the personalities Beth used to worm her way into the good graces of higher ups. Only this time she slipped up and got pregnant. She waited too late to do anything about it and almost killed herself with drugs,” I explained.
“Obviously, she was a train wreck. Beth had some friends who stashed her for a while and when she surfaced, she had a full backstory with a sister and everything. She told a lot of lies – good lies. I even believed she had a sister. But when Ed saw the ads for Larry’s campaign, he recognized his old girlfriend and he realized that Lilith and Beth were the same person. I guess it flipped a switch. Wouldn’t you say, Steph?” Harry said.
“Ed must have been irate. He got in touch with Larry who knew some or all the story. He obviously persuaded Ed to calm down and offered moonshine. That’s when it went awry and the rest was staged,” I said and stretched out on the couch. Poor Ed! He was seeking justice and he got none.
“This has been one crazy roller coaster. Who knew the life of an author could be so exciting?” Giles said. “Do you think there will still be a movie? After all we solved the crime and have somewhat of a happy ending.”
Harry and I looked at each other as if we couldn’t believe what had just come out of a brilliant professor’s mouth.
“Who knows darling? Hollywood loves a happy ending even if someone turns up dead.”
15
As soon as I recovered from whatever the Alewines inject me with, I went to see Beth in prison awaiting trial and sentencing. I was praying that the person I knew years ago before all the madness would return.
Beth appeared through the door with wrists in shackles. She had on the dreadful orange jumpsuit which didn’t flatter anyone. I saw a faint smile cross her lips.
The guard seated her and re-shackled her to the table. We waited until the matron left before either of us said anything.
“On Stephanie. I am so sorry for what we did to you,” Beth began. “I never meant for you to get hurt. It was reliving a nightmare of epic proportions. Now my life is over. Larry, Jr. is with his grandparents and I probably won’t ever see him again. For certain, my marriage is done along with my career.”
“Now Beth just hold on. I understand what and why all of this happened, but if the poisoning was an accident Larry will get off with a lesser sentence and you will just be an accomplice,” I tried to sound hopeful. No way would I speak about her son or her marriage.
“Can you ever forgive me?” Beth began to cry. I pulled a tissue from my pocket. They had confiscated my purse in case I was carrying a weapon.
“Of course. I just want my friend back,” I said.
I tried to change the subject with talk about my book sales, my star struck agent, and Giles’s dreams of grandeur a movie that probably would never be made. She smiled and even chuckled when I mentioned Sean Connery playing Giles.
“You have a wonderful husband and a great friend in the Colonel or as you call him Uncle Harry,” Beth noted.
“You are so right. Without them I never could have solved any of this. The Colonel has been my secret weapon in my Diva books.”
“I’ve read all of them you know,” Beth said. “I didn’t know you wrote them but now that I DO know it makes perfect sense.”
“Which one did you like best?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Diva’s Revenge,” she replied.
“But that one isn’t published yet,” I said.
“You’re not the only one with friends in high places,” Beth said and signaled for the guard.
When she turned around to face me, Beth’s face was contorted in a sneering. Even her eyes seemed to change color. When she spoke, I knew.
“Lilith?”
“But of course. That ninny Beth and her idiot husband couldn’t do anything complicated. I went away for a while but now I’m back. Ed was supposed to take care of me, but he didn’t show up, so he paid the price for betrayal. I’ll play the sniveling part until I’m free of this rap and then you’ll experience Diva’s Revenge up close and personal.”
As the guard clasped Lilith’s hands behind her back, she blew me a kiss and winked.
Last Rites
Book 2
1
It had been a year since Lions Gate Entertainment optioned my first book, The Diva Code. Pamela Jones, my literary agent, had calmed down a bit since she realized that from option to the silver screen could take years. I suppose that is a good thing because I couldn’t take much more excitement.
Giles, Uncle Harry, and I managed to put away some devious criminals and right now I needed normal. Giles took his sabbatical from Rutherford Community College to complete his dossier for tenure. After breakfast, I could count on him to lock himself away in the study until the afternoon. This gave me the perfect environment to begin a sequel to my latest novel, Diva’s Revenge. I had finally put the murder of Ed Lawson and the conviction of Larry and Beth Alewine out of my mind.
A month into our solitude and life intervened when Giles was called out of town in his role as police consultant. It was a case where his expertise in the occult was required. I was thankful that we had adopted a fourteen-year-old miniature cocker spaniel to be my companion. Khaki was seventeen pounds of affection. Khaki and I had just finished our morning constitutional. I tossed her a treat and poured a cup of coffee. I unfolded the Herald and gasped at the headline.
EXPLOSION AT rutherford COMMUNITY COLLEGE – ONE DEAD
As if on cue, my cell rang. It was Giles. As he began to explain his circuitous route home via layovers and airline changes, his voice was little more than a buzz. I pulled up a dining room chair and sat down monitoring my voice to hide my horror.
I inserted the proper “uh-uhs” so that my husband would be satisfied that I was okay. I didn’t need him to worry. I missed him like crazy and would be glad when this consulting job was over. It had been long and arduous, entailing lots of travel, ending with a trip to Moscow during which we had had virtually no communication.
After ending what I thought was a believable conversation, I continued scanning the news article for details and was horrified to see the name Dennis Camden. That name was all too familiar. He was a colleague of Giles’s at Rutherford. I didn’t know much about the Camdens.
I met Dennis’ wife, Mary Ann, once at a faculty wives’ event. I wondered how she was taking the shock of her husband’s death. Details were sketchy almost nonexistent. Investigation was ongoing. Arrangements pending. There was a statement from the president of
the college saying that Dr. Camden was doing research on a special project. Dr. Camden was alone in the lab and working late. Cause of death was unconfirmed but reading between the lines sounded like the explosion left little to identify.
I remembered Dr. Camden as a quiet, retiring sort. He was older than his younger, beautiful wife. She was a beauty worthy of supermodel status. The lab was in the Keystone Building. It was a spacious facility where Giles and his colleagues often collaborated on special assignments. It was nothing short of a miracle that more faculty weren’t in the building at the time. The newspaper article said the lab was supposed to be empty due to a chemical spill. Odd that Dennis disregarded the warning.
With Giles in a remote area, I had to rely on whatever details my friends in high places could provide. Sgt. Grimes had been an ally in the Alewine debacle. I had also made a friend who worked in the police evidence room. Could this possibly be linked to the case Giles was working on? Stranger things had happened.
My mind went back to last year and the crazy Alewine family. Beth aka Lilith was in jail along with her husband, Larry. Could this be some weird payback? She did promise revenge but how could that happen? It wasn’t like they were the Mafia. But I wouldn’t put anything past that family. Their wealth could buy anything – and I do mean anything.
When the forensic team formally identified the burned remains as that of Dennis Camden, other motives popped into my mind. Giles said one of Dennis’ projects was an enzyme that would neutralize the effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. What would a drug like that be worth? According to reports, all of Dennis’ research was destroyed. I wonder if Dennis had notes in more than one place. Only his closest relationships would know.
I parked downtown and took Khaki for a walk on Rutherford’s main campus. We picked up the pace and arrived at the blast zone cordoned off by yellow police tape. The remains were still smoldering. Campus police were redirecting traffic and I was asked to take an alternate walking path. Officials in hazmat suits were rescuing computers and other scientific equipment in order to salvage what results they could.
Murder in the Classic City Page 4
