by Jessica Beck
“It just makes sense,” I explained. “After all, you wouldn’t have thought it strange if she’d dreamed of drowning. She had a nightmare of falling, and that’s what ended up killing her a few hours later.”
“It’s pretty clear that you didn’t solve those past murders by chance,” the attorney said. “You are savvier than you let on.”
“Don’t tell me that you looked me up online like you did my mother,” I said.
He shrugged, but there was no remorse in it. “It’s standard procedure for me with anyone I meet. I’d apologize, but I’m not the least bit sorry that I did it,” he said as he grinned, showing me his dimples.
“I didn’t really do all that much in the past,” I said. “I’m a donutmaker by vocation and avocation.”
“So, investigating crime is just a hobby for you, is that it?”
“Oh, I take it seriously enough,” I said firmly, making eye contact and not breaking it until he looked away first. One point, Suzanne.
“I would imagine that you would, but since what happened to your aunt was an accident, there’s no need for your particular skill set, is there?”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I said, remembering that, even though he was claiming to be friends with my aunt, he’d still managed to make it onto her list of suspects.
“Have you found any evidence that there might be foul play involved?” he asked pointedly. “If you have, need I point out that it’s your obligation to share what you know with the police?”
“I don’t know anything with certainty at the moment,” I said, which was truer than not. Even Aunt Jean’s journal had been filled with guesses and suppositions. Something did occur to me, though. I’d spent my time so far looking at motives and not considering the actual act that had killed her. Was it possible that there was a clue that I’d failed to look for? When we got back to Aunt Jean’s, I needed to give those stairs a closer look in the fresh light of day. Maybe the police had missed something, but even if they hadn’t, I still needed to look for myself.
Was it my imagination, or did the attorney look a little relieved at my news that I was ignorant so far?
“Falling in a dream indicates someone is troubled by something and feels as though they are out of control in real life,” Momma said. “Was that the case with my sister?”
Adam looked appraisingly at my mother. “You’re right, but I had to look that up myself. How did you happen to know that interpretation, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“There’s a great deal I know about an infinite number of matters,” Momma said. Coming from anyone else, it might have sounded insufferably smug, but from her, it was just stated matter-of-factly.
“I’ve got to admit that you ladies continue to surprise me,” Adam said, and after a moment’s pause, he tapped on a file sitting on his desktop. “Now, if we may, there is some business that we need to discuss.”
“About Aunt Jean’s arrangements?” I asked.
“More about her legacy,” he said. “We can discuss what I’m about to tell you individually if you’d prefer. In fact, it might be easier on both of you.”
“My daughter and I have no secrets between us,” Momma said firmly.
“The same goes for me, doubled,” I replied.
“Very well. Let it be noted that I asked, and you both declined my offer.”
“It is duly noted,” my mother said. “Now that we’ve dispensed with the formalities, what is this all about?”
“It’s about Suzanne’s inheritance, actually,” he said.
“What about it?” I asked. “I didn’t expect my aunt to leave me anything,” though Momma had hinted that might not be the case after all.
Adam nodded. “Then you’re in for a big surprise, because you get everything.”
“Everything?” I asked. “What exactly does that mean?”
“Just what it sounds like. Dorothea, you are to receive a few personal bequests, items of little intrinsic value, but Jean assured me that they had great sentimental value to you both.”
“How lovely of her to remember me,” Momma said.
“Aren’t you upset that Aunt Jean is leaving everything to me?” I asked.
“Of course not. Your aunt loved you very much.”
“She loved you just much as she did me, maybe even more,” I said.
“I’m not going to argue who she loved more, but I take your point. My sister and I discussed this on more than one occasion, and it makes perfect sense when you think about it.”
“In what world?” I asked her.
“Suzanne, Jean knew the general state of my finances, and she knew yours as well. To be crass about it, I don’t need the money.”
“Neither do I,” I protested.
“Perhaps, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a larger cushion than your current cash reserves?”
“I get by,” I said, but it was true. I might be nice not to have to worry about a bad run at the donut shop that came along every now and then.
“Of course you do. This isn’t a bailout. It’s a token of her love for you.”
“Actually, it’s more than just a token,” the attorney said. “As far as I’ve been able to determine, your aunt owned the house where she lived as well as several additional pieces of property in the area.”
“Seriously?” I asked, still having a hard time believing that I was my aunt’s sole heir.
“Seriously,” Adam repeated. As he glanced through the document, he said, “The only requirement for you to inherit is that you must outlive your aunt by three days. After that, it will all be yours.”
“What happens if she doesn’t survive the next few days?” Momma asked him.
“Gee, thanks for that,” I said.
“Don’t be so touchy. I’m just asking what kind of contingency my sister set up.” Then Momma turned to the attorney and said, “There was a contingency, wasn’t there?”
“As a matter of fact, there was,” the attorney admitted a little reluctantly.
“May we hear it, please?”
The attorney said, “Maybe it would be better to forget about that part of it for now. After all, nothing is going to happen to Suzanne in the next forty-eight hours.”
“But we have a right to know what my sister’s wishes were, isn’t that correct?”
“That’s true enough.” The attorney took in a deep breath, let it escape as a sigh, and then he began to speak again. “Her instructions were quite clear. She just added a codicil a few days ago without telling me about it. As a matter of fact, I just found it ten minutes before you both walked through my door.”
“That’s enough stalling,” Momma said, and then she hesitated. “I believe I understand your reticence. You’re named in the codicil, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have stood for it, and Jean knew it. I suppose it was just her way of saying thanks you for our friendship, but it’s highly inappropriate.”
“Do you get everything if something happens to me in the next few days?” I asked.
“Hardly,” he said. “There are actually four other beneficiaries.”
I had a sudden sneaking suspicion I knew where this was going. “Let me guess who made the list. I’m betting that besides you, Greta Miles is on it, along with Chief Kessler, Hank Caldwell, and Anna Albright. How did I do?” I needn’t have asked. The expression on his face was answer enough. I’d gotten all four names right.
“Did she share this information with you before she passed away?” the attorney asked earnestly.
“No. It was just a lucky guess,” I said.
“One perhaps, but all four of them? I find that hard to believe,” Adam said.
“Take from it what you will.”
“Do the other beneficiaries know about this last-minute addition?” Momma asked him.
“They do by now. I was instructed to deliver letters to each of them before we spoke, and I did as I was told.”
That was that, then. I started to stand
as I asked, “Are we finished here?” I now had a target on my back, and I didn’t care much for sitting in one of the potential killers’ sights.
“For today,” he said as he and Momma stood as well.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” I said. “Let’s go, Momma.”
Once we were out on the sidewalk, my mother shook her head as she frowned. “What could Jean have possibly been thinking when she did that?”
“She was probably just trying to help us,” I said.
“How, by giving her suspects incentive to kill you in the next forty-eight hours? This is insane. She’s painted a target directly on your back, Suzanne.”
“She was just trying to make it easier on us,” I said, though the justification sounded hollow even in my mind.
“All she’s done is turn you into a potential victim,” Momma said. “We both need to leave Maple Hollow, and I mean right now.”
“You can go if you want to, but I’m not going anywhere until we find Aunt Jean’s killer,” I said.
Not for the first time in her life, my mother looked at me as though I were crazy. “Suzanne, this is serious.”
“So is murder,” I reminded her. “Don’t forget; I’ve been a target before.”
“Never for five suspects at the same time,” Momma protested.
“You’ve got a point there, but it doesn’t matter if there were fifty names on that list. Our job here is clear. We push forward until the murderer is caught. You’re welcome to leave, if that’s what you really want to do.”
Momma shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere without you. If you won’t change your mind, then I’m certainly not going to desert you.”
“Don’t worry. It will all work out in the end.”
“I hope you’re right,” Momma said.
“So do I,” I answered with a smile. At least my aunt had done something to help us find her killer. By naming them all as potential beneficiaries, she managed to stir the pot like we never would have been able to manage.
I just hoped that I wasn’t the one next on the list of victims.
Chapter 14
“So, now that we have an even stronger incentive to find the killer, what should we do?” Momma asked me as we walked over to her car.
“There’s no reason to do things any differently. We need to stick to our plan,” I said firmly. “After we speak with Anna Albright, then we can compare notes and try to come up with a way to press our suspects even harder. The fighting is about to get even messier.”
“This isn’t a battle, Suzanne.”
“On the contrary,” I said. “That’s exactly what it is. Momma, we’re at war, and the stakes just got higher. There’s a time limit on us now.”
“Then by all means, let’s go look for Jean’s neighbor and see what she has to say for herself.”
“How are we going to get her to even speak with us after our last conversation?” I asked.
“I’m afraid that the real question is how are we going to get her to stop,” Momma said, and I realized that she was probably right. We hadn’t spent a lot of time with Anna so far, but I doubted that reticence was one of her main character traits.
“Anna, do you have a minute?” I asked Aunt Jean’s neighbor when she answered her front door.
“Of course,” she said. “Won’t you come in? As a matter of fact, you just saved me a trip. I need to speak with your mother.”
“I’m right here,” Momma said, “and I’d be pleased to talk to you.”
“Please, won’t you both come into my living room? How about some coffee, or perhaps some tea? I’m afraid I don’t have any soft drinks that I can offer you, but I could run to the store if there’s something you’d like in particular.”
“Nothing for us, but thank you for your kind offer,” Momma said as we sat down on a flowery overstuffed couch. I felt myself sinking as I hit it, and I wondered if I’d ever stop. If Anna noticed my reaction, she didn’t show it.
“Now, what brings you two here to my humble abode?”
“It’s about my aunt,” I said.
Before I could explain any further, Anna said, “I understand why you’d like to discuss her with me, being that we were so very close, but let me go first, may I?”
“I don’t see why not,” I said. When I glanced over at Momma I saw that she was frowning, but it might just help our cause if we let Anna get whatever it was off her mind so she could focus on talking to us about my aunt.
Momma nodded when Anna turned to us, and the neighbor took it happily as our agreement to listen to what she had to say first. In a flood of words that were directed straight at my mother, she said, “There’s no sense in beating around the bush. I want that house. Jean promised to sell it to me someday, and now that she’s gone, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to buy it from you.”
I started to say something when Anna held up a hand. “Please, just let me finish. I’ve had the place unofficially appraised, and I’ve seen the property taxes. After speaking with a few realtor friends, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s worth a little under two hundred thousand dollars.”
Was she that serious about buying Aunt Jean’s place? “Anna—”
“I’m not finished,” she said breathlessly as she interrupted me. “Give me just one second.”
Anna left the living room, and I turned to Momma and asked, “What exactly is going on here?”
“Isn’t it clear? We’re getting a high-pressure sales pitch. Why do I feel as though she wants us to buy her condo in Florida?”
I was about to comment when Anna came back into the room holding an envelope. She handed it directly to my mother, who asked rightly enough, “What’s this?”
“It’s a cashier’s check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a good twenty percent over the house’s fair market value.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you,” Momma said as she handed the unopened envelope back to Anna.
With firm lips, Anna asked, “So, is that the way you’re going to play it? Fine. I might be able to go as high as three hundred thousand dollars, but that’s as much as I can scrape together, and you won’t get anywhere near that much from anyone else.”
“You misunderstood me. Anna, I’m not haggling over the price,” Momma said.
“Then you agree to my original offer of two hundred fifty thousand?” Anna asked, the excitement clear in her voice.
“It’s not my place. I’m saying that the house isn’t mine to sell in the first place,” Momma said.
Anna looked crestfallen as she took the envelope back. “Do you happen to know who is going to inherit it?” she asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” I said, surprising myself with the declaration.
That certainly got Anna’s attention. “Of course, I should have known. I get it. So, what do you say, Suzanne? What do you think of my offer? That money will buy a great many donuts.”
“No doubt it would, but I don’t buy them, I sell them, remember?” I asked a little frostily.
“You know what I mean. Will you take me up on my offer?” she asked as the envelope headed my way this time.
“Anna, why are you in such a rush? The will hasn’t even been read yet, let alone a transfer in ownership to me. Is there something we don’t know about my aunt’s house that apparently makes it worth more than everyone else thinks it is?”
“No, it’s just another residence to most folks, but not to me. Do you want the truth? Okay, I’ll tell you. The fact is that I’ve wanted to live there since I was a little girl, but it hasn’t been possible until recently. I inherited some stock from my grandfather that I’d forgotten all about until a nice broker called me and asked if I wanted to sell it. When I found out how much I was going to make, I was astonished.” She must have realized that she was giving away too much information to someone she wanted to buy a house from. “It wasn’t a fortune in most people’s eyes, but it was a lot of money to me. So naturally, when I knew
this house was going to be available, I decided to get it for myself, if the price was within reason, of course. I know, it’s silly of me to admit that to you, but I don’t care. You seem like a nice woman. I don’t think you’ll gouge me. Think about it, Suzanne. Wouldn’t you like someone living there who loved the place as much as your aunt did?”
“I can sympathize with how you feel, but I’m not in any position to sell my aunt’s house right now.”
Anna looked crestfallen yet again. “How about later, then? Think about what I’m offering you. Besides, what would you do with a house all the way in Maple Hollow? It just makes sense to sell it while you’ve got a willing buyer.”
“We’ll see. I’ve heard your offer, and all I can promise to do is to think about it,” I said. “In the meantime, we’d like to speak to you about my aunt.”
“What about her?” Anna asked a little guardedly.
“When precisely did you see her last?” I asked. “Did you run into her yesterday morning, by any chance?”
“No, not yesterday. I didn’t see her,” she said quickly. “I happened to speak with her a few days ago at the grocery store, but we didn’t talk about anything all that earthshattering. Why do you ask?”
“We’re just trying to find out anything we can about her last day,” I explained, “so we’re asking everyone who might have had contact with her.”
“You should talk to Greta, then. That woman has the scoop on everyone in town, and she’s not afraid to share any of it.”
“Oh, really?” Momma asked. “We didn’t find that to be the case when we spoke with her earlier.”
Anna frowned. “Maybe that’s because she doesn’t know you, but ask her again the next you see her and you might get a surprise. Say, maybe I could help.”
“How is that possible?” Momma asked.
“If anyone can get Greta to talk, it’s me. I can do better than that, though. As a show of good faith, I’m willing to go all over town hunting people down who might have spoken to your aunt over the past few days.”
