“Hey, you can’t just slam the door on me,” Lexy yelled, bending over to peer through the crack in the curtains. Inside, Violet made an unlady-like gesture and jerked the curtains closed.
Lexy raised her tightly balled fist to knock again and then realized it wasn’t worth the trouble. She could hear the phone ringing inside as she turned away.
I’ll show her. I’ll win that damn contest if it’s the last thing I do!
As Lexy stormed toward the steps, a breeze from the west wisped across her heated cheeks bringing a delicious floral scent with it.
Lexy stopped. Something niggled at her memory. Where did she know that scent from?
Her heart skipped a beat. The scent was lavender—the same scent that had been in that secret room with Earl.
She jerked her head toward the garden to get a better look at the plants. The medium-sized ones she recognized as wolfsbane, the smaller ones on the edge were pansies, but those tall ones, she wasn’t familiar with. They must be lavender.
Violet grew her own lavender—that had to be one heck of a coincidence.
She couldn’t wait to tell Davies, but as she started down the steps, her gaze fell on one of the tables next to the rocker. She hadn’t noticed before, but at this angle, she could see the drawer was open … and something was inside. She tiptoed over and slowly slid the drawer out to get a better look.
Her heart jerked in her chest and she sucked in a ragged breath when she saw what it was.
A lavender sachet.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lexy ran for her car and dove for the cellphone. She tried Davies first. No answer. Then she tried Nans. No answer. Then she tried Ida, Ruth, Helen and Jack—none of them answered.
Where was everyone?
She drove away from Violet’s, bursting at the seams to tell someone about the lavender sachets. Violet had lived in the neighborhood when Earl was murdered. Violet had been asking about Earl in the pub.
Could Violet be the killer?
But, if she was, then why did Nans have the red flip-flop and why did the two of them have a secret meeting?
The thought that Nans and Violet could have been in on it together flitted through Lexy’s mind, but she didn’t want to believe it. She wondered if she should refrain from telling Davies about the sachets. No, if Nans was involved it was innocently. Maybe Violet had something on Nans and was forcing her to keep the secret.
Bam!
Lexy had been so deep in thought that she hadn’t seen the pothole in the road. She cringed at the clunk-clunk-clunk sound that followed.
It sounded like she had a flat tire.
Lexy stopped and got out and, sure enough, it was flat.
“Damn it! Why now?” Lexy kicked the tire and then reached in the window for her cell phone to call roadside assistance. She leaned against the car to wait in frustration while she wore out her cellphone, trying to get a hold of anyone to tell them about the sachets.
To add insult to injury, just as they were putting the spare tire on, Violet’s red Mustang roared by. Lexy thought she saw Violet sneering at her out the window, but she couldn’t be sure.
Finally, the tire was changed and Lexy sped off to the meeting with the spare on—she didn’t have time to stop at the gas station. She was late for the meeting!
Lexy ran into the station and burst into the room Davies had secretly procured for the meeting.
A sea of faces looked up at her from the table. Lexy was shocked to see one of those faces belonged to Violet Switzer.
Lexy narrowed her eyes at Davies and pointed at Violet. “What’s she doing here?”
“Violet lived on the street and had contact with Earl, so I asked her to come,” Davies answered. “But everyone here claims they don’t know a thing about Earl and they keep insisting it was some stranger. I was just about to impress upon them how serious this is and how the evidence is quickly stacking up against Nans.”
Lexy’s stomach twisted at the sight of Nans’ pale face. She just knew that Nans did not kill Earl Schute.
“It wasn’t Nans. It was Violet—she has lavender sachets!” Lexy blurted out.
Violet’s eyes grew wide.
Nans stood up. “Now, see here, that doesn’t mean a thing.”
Why was Nans sticking up for Violet? Lexy wondered. Judging by the perplexed look in Violet’s eyes as she looked up at Nans, she was wondering the same thing.
Lexy addressed Nans. “No, but at least it’s a clue that points to someone besides you. I know you didn’t kill anyone.”
“Well, I don’t think any of us here is a cold-blooded killer,” Nans said evasively.
Davies tried to rein the meeting in. “Hold it. Let’s just stick to the program. I need you all to tell me what happened that summer or I’m afraid the Feds are going to lock Mona up.”
“And Violet,” Lexy added hopefully.
Paddy Sullivan slammed his hand on the table and pushed himself up. “Now, wait just a minute. I’m not letting Mona or Violet go to jail for something I did. This pretense has gone on long enough and it’s time to put a stop to it. I’m the one that did it. I killed Earl Schute.”
Lexy’s mouth fell open and she noticed Nans’ jaw tighten.
Violets eyes softened as she regarded Paddy. “Now, Paddy, you don’t have to—”
“Are you confessing?” Davies cut in. “Do you realize this means you’ll go to jail? You had better be sure you really did this and aren’t just covering for someone.”
Paddy glanced down at Mary. She nodded up at him, her eyes shiny with tears.
“No. I did it,” he said. “You see, he came along the street drunk as usual and started trying to make time with Mary, and I’m afraid I let my temper get away from me and whacked him with a baseball bat in the head.”
Mary put her hand over Paddy’s and looked up at him adoringly. “My hero.”
“Wait a minute!” Floyd Nichols shouted. “You didn’t kill him, I did and I’m not about to let you take the blame for it!”
Everyone’s heads whipped around to stare at Nichols on the other end of the table.
“Now, Floyd, you don’t need to try to cover for me,” Paddy said.
Nichols gave Paddy a confused look. “I’m not covering for you. I really did kill him. He came stumbling over to my yard and nearly took down my fence. I was fed up, so I punched him right in the face and he fell down like a baby. It didn’t take much, really. I was surprised because he kind of fell right into it. I think he was drunk.”
“You killed him with a punch?” Davies asked incredulously.
Floyd shrugged. “I guess so. He went down and then I checked him and he wasn’t breathing.”
Ron Witt shot up from his seat, looking confused. “No. No. No. It wasn’t either of you. I killed Earl! I clubbed him and he drowned in the culvert!”
“Wait a minute!” Davies stood up. “You can’t all have killed him. Are you guys covering for each other?”
Paddy, Floyd and Ron looked at each other in confusion.
“No. I swear,” Paddy said.
“Nope, I did it. He fell like a log right in the backyard next to the McDonalds,” Floyd added.
“He was face down in the water,” Ron said. “I’m sure I killed him.”
Davies slid her eyes over to Nans and Nans shrugged.
“I didn’t see any of it,” Nans admitted.
Davies narrowed her eyes. “But you did see Earl that night?”
“Not alive.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s back up a minute, here.” Jack, who had been listening quietly, piped up from the end of the table. “It seems you all admit to seeing Earl that night. Now, let’s go over the events and see if we can figure out what really happened.”
“Good idea,” Davies said. “Paddy, you go first.”
Paddy pressed his lips together. “Well, some details are fuzzy, but near as I can recall, Mary and I were out in the backyard looking at the stars when we saw Earl walking through the
yards towards us.”
“What time was that?” Jack asked.
Paddy looked at Mary and they both shrugged. “I don’t know—long after supper time. Like I said, it was dark.”
“I remember it was after Wheel of Fortune, so maybe ten o’clock?” Mary offered. “And Earl must have been at the bar because he was acting all cocky and belligerent.”
“Anyway,” Paddy continued. “He came swaggering up and started hitting on Mary, right in front of me! I tried to get him to leave but he wouldn’t and when he tried to get physical with Mary … well, I just got mad and picked up the nearest thing and clobbered him.”
“And that was a baseball bat?” Davies asked.
“Yep.”
“You wouldn’t happen to still have it, would you?”
Paddy’s expression turned sheepish. “No, I got rid of it darn quick.”
“Okay,” Jack continued. “So you hit him with a bat and then you dragged him to the McDonalds’ basement?”
Paddy glanced at Nans, who nodded.
“No … well, not right away.” Paddy tilted his head toward Nans. “I panicked and called Mona. She always knows what to do.”
Everyone turned to Nans, who simply shrugged.
Jacks left brow ticked up. “And what did you do, Mona?”
“Well, the way I see it, Paddy did everyone a favor and I just wanted to help him out. No one liked Earl and Paddy got rid of him for us. I knew Paddy was no murderer that needed to be prosecuted. So, I came up with a plan. I told him to get a trowel and some tools and meet me in the back yard. Then, I called Ron Witt, Floyd Nichols and the McDonalds.”
“So your neighbor killed someone and you called the other neighbors to help you cover it up?” Davies asked Nans.
Nans nodded. “Things were different back then. Neighbors stuck together. Plus, we all had big problems with Earl and we were a tight bunch back then. I knew they would help.”
Lexy glanced around the table to see all the neighbors nodding in agreement.
Ron narrowed his eyes at Nans. “Wait a minute. Did you say you called me that night?”
“Yes, of course. I gave the usual signal—two-and-a-half rings. I thought that’s why you called back.”
“No, I didn’t even know you called. I was calling you to help me get rid of Earl.”
Nans give him a puzzled look. “Oh, gosh, I was in a bit of a tizzy. It’s not every day you have to come up with a plan to hide a body. I didn’t hear you say you thought you killed Earl, I thought you said Paddy killed Earl!”
“Well, I killed him after Paddy did, so I don’t see how Paddy could be the real killer.”
“I do,” Jack cut in. “Maybe Earl wasn’t actually dead. Maybe he just passed out after Paddy hit him.”
“And he got up and came to my place?” Ron asked.
“It’s possible,” Jack replied.
“But wouldn’t Paddy, Mary or Nans have seen him get up?” Davies asked.
Nans shook her head. “I was busy calling people and getting stuff together … why it took a good half-hour, I think, before I went outside after Paddy’s call.”
“Us, too,” Paddy and Mary chorused.
“So it’s possible he wasn’t quite dead.” Jack tapped his finger on his lips. “How did you determine he was dead?”
“Well, he looked dead and he wouldn’t wake up when we shook him,” Mary said.
“And I checked his breath with a mirror and there was no breath,” Paddy added.
“Okay,” Jack cut in “Let’s say he wasn’t dead. He gets up and goes to Ron’s. Do you know what time that was, Ron?”
“I do,” Esther cut in. “It was ten forty-five. I remember because I sprained my ankle and was watching the clock ‘til I could take my next pain pill. He made a lot of noise out there.”
“Now it’s starting to come together.” Jack nodded his head. “The timeline makes sense. Tell us what happened when Earl showed up at your place, Ron.”
“Well, he smashed into my patio table, causing quite a racket, so I ran outside and there he was, drunk … at least, I thought he was drunk. Anyway, he started picking a fight with me and I was still mad about the insurance money and all, so we got into it a bit. He was dancing all over the yard, throwing punches and yelling. I hit him and he fell face down in the ditch. It was full of water. I ran down to get him out, but he was too heavy. I thought he was dead, so I ran inside and called Mona.”
Nans grimaced. “I must have been too flustered to understand what Ron was saying, what with thinking about hiding the body and all.”
“So, then what?” Davies asked. “Did you all drag the body out of the drainage ditch and bring it to McDonalds’?”
Paddy, Ron, and Nans looked at each other.
Nans said, “No, actually it wasn’t in the ditch when I saw it—”
“That explains why he was all wet,” Floyd cut in.
“What do you mean?”
“When he came crashing around my fence and we got into the fight, I noticed he was wet. I thought it was odd, but you never know with Earl. I just figured he pissed someone off at the bar and they dumped their beer on him,” Floyd said.
“And what exactly happened when he came into your yard and why were you out there in the middle of the night?” Jack asked.
“Earl and I had an on-going feud because he didn’t keep his yard up. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was putting up a fence, but it was well into my yard,” Floyd replied. “Anyway, I had seen him out there in the middle of the night a few times and was keeping a watch to try to figure out what he was up to. To this day, I have no idea what he was doing. I’m sure it was something suspicious, though. It looked like he was digging.”
“Digging?” Lexy asked remembering how the landlady had said there were holes all over the yard. Earl had been burying something secretly at night and Lexy had a good idea it must have been the money from the insurance scams. But that begged the question … who dug it up?
“Yes, digging.” Floyd answered. “Anyway, that night, I was out on watch and he came along and we got into it. One thing led to another and it came to blows. We were all over the backyards and ended up right in the McDonalds’ yard. The funny thing is, I didn’t even really punch him. I’d wound up and was in the middle of throwing the punch and then he just fell into it. Passed out drunk … or so I thought. But then I took his pulse and he didn’t have one—he was dead. And that’s when Mona and the others came along. I just thought they’d seen what happened and were coming over to help.”
“But they weren’t. They were coming to hide the body that Paddy thought he killed.” Davies looked at Nans, Ron and Paddy. “Didn’t you guys wonder what Floyd was doing out there and how the body got there?”
“Actually, I just thought Mona had called everyone and they’d already started to move it,” Paddy said.
“Me, too,” Ron added.
“I’d called Floyd and let it ring two and a half times. Like I said earlier, that was a signal between us neighbors and it meant to meet in the backyards. Usually, that was just for barbecues or a nightcap. We’d never met to hide a body before. Anyway, when I saw Floyd out there, I just thought Paddy or Ron had clued him in and he’d already started dragging the body down from Sullivan’s … it was only a couple houses down,” Nans said.
Wait a minute, didn’t you guys talk about the events of the evening and figure out who killed him?” Jack looked at them incredulously.
“Nope,” Nans answered for them. “We were too busy. Plus, we wanted to be quiet so we wouldn’t wake any of the other neighbors. And afterwards, we vowed never to talk about it again.”
“I guess no one felt much like talking about how they’d killed another person, even if it was Earl and mostly in self-defense,” Paddy said. “I know I didn’t.”
“Me, either,” Ron agreed.
“Ditto,” Floyd added.
“And it was just you four?” Jack asked.
Paddy thrust his chin
toward Violet. “And Violet.”
Jack’s brows drew into a V. “I wondered about her. Where does Violet come in?”
“She showed up when we were moving the body,” Paddy said.
“I guess she must have seen us with the body and came over to help.” Nans looked over at Violet.
“That’s right. I have terrible insomnia and was out walking when I saw the commotion. I knew the folks here and Ron and Esther go to my church, so I just pitched in and helped. You see, I’d had my troubles with Earl, too.”
“So, you did put the sachets in with him!” Lexy said.
Violet nodded.
“Okay, so then you all dragged him to the McDonalds’ basement and started making that secret room?” Davies scrunched up her face. “Why would the McDonalds even agree to that?”
“Well, they were part of our core group. We do everything to help each other out. So, of course they said yes,” Esther said.
“Plus they owed me a favor,” Nans added.
“Oh?” Davies brows shot up.
“Yes, their oldest got into some trouble and I was able to use my connections to hush it up. It’s private and not pertaining to this case, so I’d rather keep the details to myself, if you don’t mind,” Nans said primly.
“Fair enough … for now,” Jack replied.
“So, anyway,” Nans continued. “The McDonalds agreed to call Nesbaum and tell him his services were no longer needed. Then, we all got to work.”
“So, just the five of you redid the basement and made that room?” Lexy asked.
“Seven,” Nans answered. “Ester and Mary helped, too.”
“And you did all the work yourselves?” Jack asked.
“Yep, Paddy and Ron are tradesmen and they knew just how to do it. They supervised and we all got it done in thirty-six hours.”
Jacks brows crept up. “And nobody else in the neighborhood noticed what you were doing?”
“Nope, we kept it quite hush-hush. The work was done under the cover of darkness and all.”
“What about the smell?” Davies asked. “The body had to have started to smell.”
Nans wrinkled her nose. “He did start to smell, especially toward the end. Violet suggested we cover him with lavender sachets. She ran home and got a bunch of them, then she crawled right into that space and laid them all around.”
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