by Jessica Beck
“I am,” he said. “Is that acceptable to you?”
My mother laughed a little, and then she asked, “Does it really matter how I feel about it at this point?”
“Actually, it does, a great deal at that. Jean left me instructions that if either one of you failed to accept her terms and conditions, you were to be relieved of your executorships, and an alternate clause will be enacted instead.”
“If she felt that way, then she was pretty serious about it,” I said. “That’s all I need to know. I’m game for whatever she’s got in store for us.” I turned to my mother and asked, “How about you?”
“Of course I’ll do it,” Momma said. “My sister knew perfectly well that I wouldn’t be able to say no to her, in this life or the next.”
“Good,” Adam said. “Then let’s begin.
“Dot, I’ve never been all that fond of good-byes, you know that more than anyone else in the world, so I’ll spare us both any maudlin musings from beyond the grave. Suffice it to say that you were the best baby sister a gal could ever hope to have, and I was proud to be related to you. Don’t grieve for me too long, lil sis. We both know that I was living on borrowed time. It just irks me to the core to know that it was cut short before it was my time to go.”
Adam looked up at her. “Does that make sense to you?”
“As a matter of fact, it does,” my mother answered. “Out of curiosity, when were these letters written?”
Adam frowned for a moment before he spoke. “Do you mean these drafts? Jean gave them to me two days ago.”
“So, there were other versions before these letters?” I asked.
“There were three others,” he said. “She was most emphatic about this round in particular, though. They had to be done immediately, and Jean showed a compelling sense of urgency that I didn’t understand at the time.”
We did, though, I thought silently to myself.
“Please continue,” Momma said with her bravest face in place. I knew that she was in some real pain from losing her sister, but all I could do was reach out and pat her hand. It wasn’t much, but at least she knew that I was there for her, in whatever way she needed me to be.
I just hoped that it would be enough.
Adam nodded and resumed reading aloud.
“Dot, you need to be there for Suzanne, to help her in any way that you can. Lil sis, I know how much you love being in charge, but this is mainly your daughter’s task, not yours. Your sole responsibility is to help her, and allow her take the lead. I’m not asking; I’m telling, so no sass from you, young lady.”
For some odd reason, that made Momma smile, if only for a second.
“That’s it, then. You know how much I love you, so I won’t get all mushy on you and make both of us uncomfortable. It’s been a real treat being so close to you, lil sis. Take care of you, and that precious kid of yours, too.”
Adam folded the letter up and returned it to its envelope before handing it to Momma.
“Is it mine to keep?” Momma asked as she clutched the envelope so hard that it folded in on itself in her grasp.
“I was required to read it aloud, and then hand it directly to you.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, knowing that now it was my turn. “Okay. Go on. I’m ready to hear my letter now.”
The attorney nodded gravely, and then he began to read again, but this time it was different.
This one was to me.
“Suzie Q, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine. What a delight it’s been to have you in my life. You were everything this crazy aunt could have ever hoped for. When your heart was breaking, mine died a little with you, and when you were happy, my soul soared right beside you. Neither time nor distance could ever separate us, and even though we hadn’t seen much of each other lately, please know that you were in my heart each and every day. If you’ve spoken to your mother about her last visit, which I suspect you have, you know what your job is now. Dream with me of far away places, and see what there is to see. I love you more than life itself, kiddo. Be good to yourself, and to anyone who’s lucky enough to earn your love.”
Adam put the letter back into its envelope and handed mine to me. “I have no idea what some of this means. I just hope that you do.”
“Aunt Jean could be mysterious when she wanted to be,” I said as I tried my best not to burst out crying at the thought of the sentiments she’d just conveyed. There were indeed hidden references in my letter, but I wasn’t about to explain them to the attorney. I figured if Jean had wanted him to know more, she would have been a little more forthcoming in her letter than she’d been. That didn’t necessarily make him a suspect in her mind, but it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, either. For now, until I learned differently, Adam Jefferson was going to have to be satisfied without any clarifying answers from me.
The attorney shrugged after hearing my response, and then he reached into a desk drawer and handed a ring of keys to my mother. “This meeting was held strictly at the request of Jean. I did it as a favor to her, not as her attorney, but as her friend. You should know that the formal reading of the will comes after the services in three days, but according to her instructions, I’ll need to see you both again tomorrow. I can come to you at the house, or you can both come here. Don’t worry; we don’t have to decide that right now. Oh, and one other thing. Jean instructed me to tell you that you are both to stay in her house until the will is read. She was most emphatic about it, so I trust that’s acceptable.”
“I was aware of her desires before we came here today,” my mother said. “Is there someone in town I should see about making arrangements for her interment?”
“That’s all been taken care of,” Adam said. “The bills were all paid in full and every last detail has been decided. All you have left to do is grieve for your loss.”
“Thank you,” Momma said as she stood. “Let’s go, Suzanne.”
I paused and reminded the attorney, “I’ve got those donuts out in the trunk.”
“Super,” he said, and he followed us outside. I handed them to him, and he opened the lid with great relish. “These smell wonderful. Now I owe you both a meal. How about dinner?”
I was about to accept when Momma said, “Thank you, but we’ll be quite busy for the rest of the day. Perhaps another time. Good-bye, Mr. Jefferson, and thank you for everything.”
“It’s Adam,” he reminded her, but Momma didn’t respond as we drove off, leaving him standing there in the street watching us as our car disappeared from view.
Chapter 6
Once we were gone, I said, “Well, that was a bit cold, even for you.”
“What are you talking about, Suzanne?” Momma asked as she glanced over at me.
“He was just trying to be helpful,” I said.
“Perhaps,” my mother replied.
“Are you saying that you don’t think he was trying to help us?” I asked her.
Instead of answering my question directly, she asked one of her own instead. “Suzanne, he asked a great many questions, don’t you think?”
I considered it. “Maybe he was just curious about what Aunt Jean meant in her letters. If you didn’t know the backstories, they must have sounded fairly odd. If they were indeed friends, he had a reason to want to know, especially given her sense of urgency.”
“Perhaps you’re right, but until we know more about his relationship with my sister, I plan to keep him in the dark.” Momma hesitated, and then she added, “I noticed that you didn’t rush to explain the clues in your letter to him, either.”
“There were clues in yours, too?” I asked her. “What were they?”
“There was nothing all that significant to anyone who didn’t know her as well as I did, but they were there nonetheless,” Momma said. “The most glaring hints were the continual references to ‘lil sis.’ They weren’t about me, Suzanne. Lil Sis was Jean’s favorite doll as a child. It was the only one she still kept in her bedroom as an
adult. I’m wondering if she didn’t leave us more information hidden somewhere close to her.”
“And the other clues?”
“Nothing else was quite that specific. It just seemed that she was eager for me to see what secrets Lil Sis might be hiding. Now it’s your turn, Suzanne.”
“Sunshine and dreams,” I said simply.
“You’re going to have to give me more than that to work with,” Momma insisted.
“The repeated sunshine reference has to refer to the hidden compartment in her window seat,” I said. “She always used to sing that song when she sat there with me when I was younger.”
“I remember that now,” Momma said. “And the dream reference?”
“It has to be the attic where the skylight is,” I said. “Aunt Jean told me more than once that was where our dreams escaped the earth and flew up into the sky to join everyone else’s, where wishes came true and memories were stored forever.”
“That sounds exactly like something my sister would say,” she said.
“Momma, I can’t wait to see what she hid for us.”
It turned out that it was going to have to wait after all.
When we got to the house, it was clear that someone else was already there.
The lights were on throughout the place in the fading light of day, and the front door was standing wide open.
Someone who didn’t belong was on the premises, and we needed to find out what they were doing there.
“Should we call the police?” I asked Momma as we parked out front and stared at the open front door of the house.
“I don’t think so,” my mother said.
“Why on earth wouldn’t we?”
“I’m sure it’s perfectly harmless,” Momma said as she shut off the engine. “There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for what’s going on.”
“Maybe so, but what if there isn’t?” I grabbed her arm before she could get out. “Momma, we have to take this seriously. If Aunt Jean was right, then someone killed her this morning. That means that there is a murderer out there somewhere who is desperate enough to kill. I’m calling the police.”
“Suzanne, I think you’re overreacting,” she said with a sigh.
“I very well could be, but then again, if we go inside without knowing what’s in store for us, we might be doing something really stupid that could have easily been avoided.” I dialed 911 and got a police dispatcher immediately. “Hi, this is Suzanne Hart. I’m at Jean Davidson’s place, and we believe that someone might have just broken in.”
“I’ll get the chief for you right away,” the woman said, and twenty seconds later, a man picked up the line.
“This is Chief Kessler,” he said. “What’s this I hear about Jean’s place being broken into?”
“I’m Suzanne Hart, her niece, and I’m here with my mother, Jean’s sister. We are supposed to be the only ones with keys to the place, and yet the lights are on and the front door is standing wide open.”
“I’ll be there in thirty seconds,” he said. “Stay away from that house in the meantime.”
“Don’t worry, Chief. We plan to,” I said.
“I still think this is unnecessary,” Momma said after I hung up the phone.
“Momma, this might be serious. You need to stop thinking like a civilian and start acting as though there’s a target on your back.”
“It sounds a bit paranoid to me, Suzanne.”
“I once read that just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you anyway.”
“Is that how you live your life?” Momma asked me, clearly disapproving of my behavior.
“It is while I’m investigating what might be murder,” I countered. “And it would be to your advantage to start thinking that way, too.”
“How sad that must be for you, looking at every encounter as a potential threat.”
“Maybe so, but I’ve found that it keeps me alive, and after all, that’s my ultimate goal,” I said as a squad car pulled up.
I waited until the police chief got out of the squad car to join him, with Momma not far behind.
“Chief, I’m Suzanne Hart, and this is my mother, Dorothea Hart.”
“You’re the donut maker, and you’re the sister,” the chief said. “Jean spoke highly of both of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see what’s going on in there.”
“Should we come with you?” I asked.
“Thanks, but I’ll manage.”
The police chief walked up the steps to the old house with his gun drawn, and as he went inside, I held my breath waiting for some kind of sound from inside. The house was a Victorian, large and ancient, and I had fond memories of all of the different hiding spots there I’d discovered as a child. I’d loved everything about the place, from its scarred hardwood floors to its glass doorknobs to its stained glass transom windows over every door. It had been my aunt’s pride and joy, and I couldn’t help but think that the place looked sad now that she was gone.
The chief finally walked out with an older woman in tow.
She looked flustered as she hurried over to us.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to clean up a little before you got here.”
“And you are?” Momma asked her coldly.
The woman wiped her hands on her apron, and then she extended one to Momma. “I’m Greta Miles. I was your sister’s cleaning lady.”
“Hello, Greta. I’m Dorothea, and this is my daughter, Suzanne.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both. If you’ll come on up, I’ll make you a nice pot of tea. I could use one myself, truth be told. Finding Miss Jean like that this morning has been traumatic for me, I can tell you that.”
“Why don’t you go on ahead with Greta, Momma?” I suggested. “I’ll be there in a second.”
My mother looked curious about my request, but she did as I asked and followed Greta inside.
“Before you go, I’d like a word with you, Chief,” I said.
“Is there anything in particular that you’d like to ask?”
“I’m assuming that Greta was indeed my aunt’s housekeeper,” I said.
Chief Kessler looked surprised by my statement. “Of course she was. Why else would she be here?”
I could think of a few reasons, but I didn’t want to share them with him, at least not until I got to know him a little better. “It never hurts to ask. Is there a trustworthy locksmith that you could recommend around here?”
“Are you going to change the locks already? That sounds a little rushed, don’t you think?”
“Chief, I loved and respected my aunt more than I can ever say. I’m just looking after her wishes. So, do you have someone you could refer me to or not?”
He took out a business card and jotted something on it. “That’s Hank Caldwell’s number. Give him a call and tell him I said that it was a priority. The other number is my cellphone. Call that if you can’t get me through dispatch. I was a big fan of your aunt’s.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Thanks, Chief.”
“You can call me Greg,” he said, and then he added a lopsided smile.
Was he flirting with me? He was probably just being friendly, but it took all I had not to blurt out, “I have a boyfriend.”
“Suzanne works for me,” I said. “Thanks for coming over so quickly.”
“I’m just glad that it was a false alarm,” he said as he saluted me with three fingers. “I’m sorry about your aunt’s accident. It was truly tragic.”
“Chief,” I asked on a whim, “are you sure that it was an accident?”
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” he said. “After all, everyone knew that she’d been sick lately. She must have lost her balance at the top of the stairs, and she wasn’t able to catch herself in time. It was bad, but it was still an accident, plain and simple.”
“Thanks,” I said. He seemed convinced that he was telling me the truth, or else he was an excelle
nt liar. Only time would tell which one it might be.
After Chief Kessler drove off, I didn’t waste any time calling Hank Caldwell. He agreed to come right over and change the locks, and I let a breath of air out. Who knew how many keys to Aunt Jean’s place were floating around Maple Hollow? At least this way, Momma and I should be able to go to sleep tonight without worrying about any unwanted visitors.
When I walked into the kitchen, I found both women sitting at the dining room table with cups of tea in front of them. There was another cup waiting for me, so I joined them.
“You were out there quite a while,” Momma said.
“I had a few things to discuss with the police chief,” I said. I didn’t really want to get into it with Greta there, so I turned to the maid and said, “I hope you understand why we were so surprised to see you here.”
“If I overstepped my bounds, I’m truly sorry. I just wanted things to be nice for you when you got here,” she said.
“We’ll be more than happy to pay you for your time, of course,” Momma said.
Greta looked shocked by the offer. “I didn’t come here today for money. It was out of respect.”
“And we appreciate it,” I said, “but we’ve got things under control now. It was sweet of you to stop in, but I hope you understand that my mother and I need a little time here alone to get used to the situation.”
“I understand,” she said as she stood abruptly. “I’ll just be on my way, then.”
I was surprised by how fast she was moving. “I didn’t mean immediately. You can at least finish your tea,” I said.
“No, that’s not necessary. If you don’t need me, I’ll be going along now.”
And before I could stop her, she was gone.
“What did I say?” I asked Momma.
“Why are you so surprised that she left so abruptly? You were the one who suggested that she go.”
“Not instantly,” I said.
“Why did you want to get rid of her?” Momma asked.
“I wanted to see what clues Aunt Jean left us, and I didn’t want to do it with Greta hovering nearby.”
