by Tim Myers
“Okay, we’ll do it your way. Who do we talk to first?” I asked, knowing from Lillian’s tone that she to wasn’t about to budge. Truly, I was happy she was so resolute. With the odds right at fifty-fifty, I hadn’t been thrilled about confronting a possible double murderer by myself, either.
I was still waiting for an answer when I glanced over at Lillian. She’d gone as white as I’d ever seen her, and for a second I thought she was having a heart attack.
“What is it?” I asked her as I grabbed her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Jennifer, I think I know who did it.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” I said. “Talk to me.”
“It had to be Hester. I never would have believed it.”
I led Lillian to a chair. “Sit down and I’ll get you some water.”
“I don’t need a drink,” she protested, “at least not one of water.”
“Sit,” I commanded, and to my great surprise, she obeyed. I came back a few seconds later with a bottle of water from the refrigerator in back.
“You know I don’t like it so cold,” she said.
“Just drink it.” I swear, sometimes dealing with her was like having a three-year-old.
She took a few sips, then sighed heavily. While she was composing herself, I said, “You know, I think you’re right about Hester.”
“Why do you say that?” The color was coming back to her cheeks, and I forgot about calling 911 for the moment.
“When we searched Maggie’s house, I thought I saw someone in the bushes outside, remember?”
“Of course I do. I’m not senile.”
That was Lillian’s next stage of recovery. Snapping at me was a good sign. At least that’s what I told myself.
“Well, I didn’t say anything at the time because I thought I was probably imagining it, but I could have sworn I spotted Hester in the bushes watching us.”
“That makes sense, if what I’m thinking is correct. We had a conversation at the funeral that I thought was a little odd, but it’s making a lot more sense now under this context.”
I remembered their talk, and how I’d eavesdropped. “She said before long it would just be her, and she didn’t sound all that broken up about it, did she?”
“You heard that?” Lillian asked pointedly. “Jennifer, you know that listening to other people’s conversations is rude.”
I smiled at my aunt. “Hello Pot, my name’s Kettle.”
She didn’t think I was all that amusing, but my aunt was a great eavesdropper from way back. If she didn’t like the fact that I’d turned the tables on her, that was just too bad.
“If you’re quite finished, we need to go,” Lillian said.
“I’m ready if you are. Should we have Bradford meet us there?”
Lillian scowled. “On what pretext? Let’s hold off for now. After all, she can’t suspect we know what she’s been doing.”
I flipped the sign to closed and we headed for Lillian’s Mustang. When she started driving away from town and Hester’s shop, I asked, “Where are you going?”
“Before we talk to Hester, we have to warn Hilda.
If there’s one person on earth Hilda trusts, it’s her, and I won’t have it on my conscience if anything happens to her.”
“Okay, I’ll buy that,” I said. “Hey, how do you I know where Hilda lives? I’ve known her longer than you have, and I don’t have a clue.”
“She invited me over for coffee the other day,” Lillian admitted. “She even drew me a map. Since we had Maggie’s memorial, that woman’s been doing her utmost to be my new best friend. You didn’t have anything to do with that, did you?” When I didn’t answer right away, she pushed. “Jennifer, what did you say?”
“Your name came up in conversation,” I admitted. “She asked, so I told her a little about Uncle Roger. That’s it, I swear.”
“Yes, I got the feeling she was going to invite me into their Widows Club. Good thing I didn’t get to know her sooner, or my name might have been on that list as well.”
I touched her shoulder lightly as she drove. “You didn’t qualify,” I said.
“I most certainly am a widow, even if I did have a husband or two after Roger.”
“I’m not disputing that,” I said, “but none of the other women had any family they’re close to. That was kind of the whole point.”
Lillian shared a warm smile, lacking any hint of the acidity she could usually muster at will. “We are an odd group ourselves, aren’t we? But it’s nice belonging to someone.”
“I agree,” I said as we pulled up to a modest house on the outskirts of town. The lawn was well kept, and the bungalow had been freshly painted a charming shade of pale blue, with royal blue shutters and a white front door. It looked perfect for one person.
“How are we going to break the news to her?” I asked.
“The same way we do everything else,” Lillian replied. “Direct and without doubt.”
I touched Lillian’s arm before we got out. “What if we’re wrong?”
“Jennifer, warning her doesn’t hurt anything but our pride if we’re off base, but on the positive side, we may just save her life. Isn’t that worth the risk?”
“It is,” I said.
We walked to the door, but our repeated summons went unanswered. “Either she’s not home or she’s ducking us,” I said.
“Let me leave her a note, and we’ll find Hester. I just hope we’re not too late.”
Chapter 17
“Are you sure we shouldn’t call Bradford first?” I asked Lillian as we pulled up in front of Hester’s shop had started to rain, coming down in sheets, and the darkness of the day matched my view of the world. “We can make it a casual request.”
“Call him if you’d like,” Lillian said, “but I can tell you what he’s going to say.”
“You’re right,” I agreed as I got out of the Mustang. “I’m just not sure what we’re going to say to Hester.”
“Let me do the talking,” she said. “I’ve known her forever, and if someone’s going to accuse her of murder, it should be me.”
We dodged as much of the rain as we could and walked into the combination copy store apartment rental agency ice cream shop. Hester was alone behind the counter, no doubt because of the onslaught of rain. Part of the place had seats and tables near the freezers, while the other half was devoted to copiers and printers and one lone computer. I didn’t know where she handled the real estate end of her business: out of the back room no doubt.
“Ladies,” she said softly, not meeting our glances. Behind her, she’d mounted a bulletin board for notes, announcements and general information, which covered a lot, given the scope of her business. “I’m sorry, but a lease is a lease. I can’t let you break it and move out.”
“We’re not here about that,” Lillian said, and Hester looked relieved. “We’re here about your little Widows Club. That’s what you meant at the memorial, isn’t it?”
Hester looked shocked. “How did you know about that? It was supposed to be a secret.”
I took a deep breath, then said, “How long did you think you’d be able to get away with killing them for their money?”
“What? Have you lost your mind?”
Lillian was looking at me with the exact same expression, but I decided to bull on through. “Don’t try to deny it. I saw you stalking us outside Maggie’s house last night.”
“I can explain,” Hester said, nearly hyperventilating. “I wanted to come in—I swear it—but you know how nervous I get around people.”
I said, “So you’re denying you had anything to do with the murders?”
Hester screeched, “Murders! Why do you keep saying that? Maggie’s death was an accident, and Frances killed herself. Everybody knows that.”
Lillian said, “Hester, you can stop lying. We know the truth.”
“You don’t know anything,” she screamed. I’d never heard her speak above a whisper before, but sh
e was certainly coming out of her shell. It was amazing what a little accusation of double homicide could do.
Lillian was still talking to her when my gaze drifted back to the board behind the counter. Something had caught my eye earlier, but I hadn’t been able to isolate it from the clutter. I walked back to get a better look, then felt my heart chill as I pulled a handmade card from the collage of facts and information announcing that someone was moving.
“Where did you get this?” I asked as I studied the distinct edging that had been Maggie’s latest personal pattern. “Did she send you a card, too?”
“Of course she did. It just came in the mail today, but what has that got to do with anything?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” I said as I opened the card. Instead of finding Maggie’s handwriting, though, I saw that someone else had made the card using those specialty scissors. Inside was an announcement that someone I knew was leaving town, and they hadn’t uttered the slightest word to me about it.
I grabbed my aunt’s arm. “Lillian, we’ve made a mistake.”
“What? That’s impossible. The facts are all there.”
I showed her the card without saying a word and waited while she read the inside. “And we just tried to warn her,” she said.
Lillian turned to Hester and said, “I’m so sorry, but you’re going to have lock up your shop and leave.”
“Lillian, I swear I think you’ve lost your mind. First you accuse me of killing my friends, and now you’re telling me to close my business. What’s gotten into you?”
“There’s no time right now; I’ll explain it to you later. Listen to me carefully. No matter what you do, don’t answer the door, even if it’s someone you think of as a friend.” She took Hester’s hands in her own and said, “Now this part is extremely important. There’s one person you must not let inside, even if she acts like she’s dying. Do as I say, or Hilda will kill you, just as surely as she killed Frances and Maggie.”
It took some convincing, but after a few more minutes, Hester agreed and dead bolted the place up as soon as we left. I’d tried to get her to come with us, but she wouldn’t hear of it. It appeared that she wanted to believe Lillian, but I had the feeling she was locking us out as well as anyone else who might want to hurt her. I wasn’t sure why Hilda was moving—running was more like it—but I knew if we didn’t get to her in time, there might be another “accident” so she could have it all before she vanished.
“Call him now,” Lillian said as she handed me her cell phone. I dialed Bradford’s number, and got through to him immediately. “Bradford, we need your help.”
There was a ton of interference on the phone, and the rain was pounding down on the roof of the ragtop so hard I could barely hear my own voice.
“Jen, is that you? I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up.” There was a pause; then we were disconnected.
“You didn’t tell him what we were doing,” Lillian said.
“He couldn’t hear me,” I said. “This rain is miserable. I’ll call him again when we get there.”
We were on the outskirts of town when Lillian’s eyes lit up as she said, “Look behind us.”
Coming out of the rain and the gloom, I could see Hilda speeding toward us in her white truck. As she hit our back bumper, I felt the Mustang start to skid off the road. She was trying to kill us!
“Hang on,” Lillian shouted as she fought the wheel. We were near a hillside with a pretty steep drop-off, and I doubted we’d survive the fall if Hilda managed to force us off the road.
“What are we going to do?” I asked, trying not to scream as I looked back at Hilda’s furious expression.
“We’re going to survive,” Lillian said curtly. “Now stop yapping and let me focus.”
Lillian took another hit, this one spinning us sideways, jamming us for one moment against a telephone pole and caving in part of the side before she managed to regain control.
“She’s not going to stop until we’re dead,” I said loudly.
“Quiet,” Lillian snapped.
She needed to concentrate on her driving, but time seemed to come to a standstill as I saw Hilda prepare to ram us again. I could barely recognize her. Her face was twisted into a mask of fury, and it looked like the only thing she wanted in the world was to see us die.
Hilda slammed into us again, and after a harsh jolt that slammed my head forward, I could feel the back of the car start to skid toward the trees. I didn’t know how Lillian managed it, but she corrected at the last second and somehow straightened us out of the fishtail.
Hilda was growing more furious by the second, and I could see her face redden as she shouted at us. No doubt she was frustrated that we refused to die.
She was nearly to us again and I braced myself for what might be the final impact when Lillian did something with the gas, the brake and the steering wheel all at the same time. The Mustang responded to her touch and we were suddenly turned facing the other direction and out of danger, at least for a moment or two. Hilda’s reaction time wasn’t nearly what Lillian’s was, and her vehicle kept going straight, though the road curved abruptly. The truck hit a tree, started to tip, then was upright again as another massive trunk caved in the passenger side entirely. I hoped and prayed that Hilda was still alive, but not out of any humanitarian spirit. If she died, the secret of why she’d behaved as she had might die with her, and I didn’t think I could stand not knowing for the rest of my life.
Lillian looked at me and asked, “Are you all right?”
“I’m a little shaky, but I’m alive, thanks to you.
Where did you learn to drive like that?”
Lillian offered a partial shrug as she unfastened her seat belt. “Did you forget that my husband Hank raced stock cars when he was younger? He made sure I knew every trick he did before he’d let me out on the road. I’ll have to thank him for that. Maybe I’ll send him a card.”
“Was Hank your third husband or your fourth?” I asked as I got out of my side.
“He was my second husband, and you know it.”
I was about to say something smart when I saw the side and the back of Lillian’s car. “Oh no. It’s pretty bad, isn’t it?”
Lillian shrugged. “Jennifer, it’s only a car. I was getting tired of it anyway. Call your brother again, and then we’ll go check on Hilda.”
There hadn’t been any movement from the truck, but I still kept a wary eye on it as I hit the redial number on the cell phone.
Bradford answered. “Jen, did you just hang up on me? This weather’s driving me nuts.”
“There’s been an accident. We’re on route twenty-seven, just out of town. Call an ambulance.”
I could hear my brother’s breath explode. “Jennifer, are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Just hurry,” I said.
“I’ll be right there.”
After we hung up, I saw Lillian walking toward the truck. I called out to her, “Wait a second; Bradford’s going to be right here.”
“Jennifer, she might need our help.”
“She tried to kill us,” I said, shouting through the pouring rain.
“That doesn’t matter right now,” Lillian said, and I followed her to the truck. I was braced for another attack, but when I got to the vehicle, I could see that I needn’t have worried. Hilda was pinned neatly against the steering wheel, and there was a steady pulse of blood coming from her forehead. I knew head wounds could be bloody, and Hilda’s was shaping up to be a real beauty.
I leaned forward, still staying out of her reach. “Hilda, are you all right?”
She seemed to-come out of it. “Jennifer? Is that you? What happened?”
Lillian stood beside me. “You tried to kill us,” she said flatly.
“I know that,” Hilda snapped. “How did I miss?”
“You can curse my second husband,” Lillian said. “He taught me evasive driving.”
“Wish he’d have taught me,” Hilda s
aid. “You two would be out of my hair now.”
I took a deep breath, then said, “You don’t have any remorse for trying to kill us and succeeding with Maggie and Frances?”
Hilda said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get away with it, but that’s not what you want to hear, is it? So you figured Frances out, too. I was afraid the two of you were too clever for me. Can you get me out of here? My chest is killing me.”
“The paramedics will be right here,” I said, not wanting to help free such a dangerous woman, despite the current evidence to the contrary. “So why did you kill them?”
“Why do you think? It was all about the money. Frances was part of a rich family, and I wanted my share of it. I’ve been sick of living on a widow’s pension. She’d told us all that she might as well have been orphaned, but I didn’t believe her. I thought for sure I’d be her first choice, but then she named Maggie instead of me in her will. I couldn’t believe it! After Frances was taken care of, I cemented my friendship with Maggie. I waited until she had time to change her will to reflect our new relationship; then I decided I had to take care of her. That part of it worked, anyway. The daft woman even sent me a card from beyond the grave like she did the rest of you. I knew I had to kill her. It was the only way I was going to get my hands on Frances’s money.”
“Maggie didn’t get any money from her estate,” Lillian said simply.
“That’s what she tried to tell me when I confronted her. She was lying, though, and I knew it.”
“So you decided to kill her too,” I said as the rain finally started to ease up. I couldn’t hear the sirens yet, but I knew I didn’t have much time if I was going to get the truth out of her face-to-face, and suddenly it was very important that I did.
“I couldn’t trust her, so she had to go next,” Hilda said calmly. The steady cadence of her voice sent chills through me that had nothing to do with the icy rain. “I waited in the back of her van, and I was ready to deal with her when I noticed she was driving to Howard and Betty’s house. If news of our arrangement got out, I knew I’d be a prime suspect, so why not muddy things up a bit? They must have had some row inside, because Maggie was shaking when she got back to the van. She drove about a mile up the road, then pulled over so she could calm down. It was easy taking care of her; she wasn’t expecting me.”
