Murder of a Sweet Old Lady srm-2

by Denise Swanson

  The nurse he hired to do the wicked deed and take care of her afterwards seems passable, but she has no warmth and makes it clear she does what she does for money.

  I hear Angelo’s key in the lock. I will have to mail this when he is not around as he has forbidden me to write of this matter. Please pray for your niece as her father forces her to get rid of her child.

  Your loving sister,

  Antonia

  Skye’s heart pounded. This certainly put a whole new light on things! Since neither of her aunts had appeared pregnant in the photo and they had been gone for only a month, her grandmother must have been referring to an abortion. So who had the abortion, Minnie or Mona? And did the other sister know what was going on?

  Skye grabbed the phone and called the hospital. She was in luck. Minnie was allowed to speak on the phone.

  After polite chitchat Skye got to the point. “Ah, Aunt Minnie, please stop me if this upsets you, but I was wondering if you remember that time you and Mona stayed with a nurse in Chicago?”

  “Sure,” Minnie answered readily. “Why would that upset me? Mona needed to have her appendix out. Mom and Dad sent me to keep her company.”

  “But you were all right?”

  “Sure.” Minnie’s voice reflected her memory of a good time. “It was sort of fun to be in the city. And Mona recovered real fast. It was almost like being on vacation. I even took some pictures . . .” Minnie’s voice trailed off. “I wonder what happened to them?”

  “I’ll see if I can find them,” Skye promised. “Thanks, Aunt Minnie; get well soon.”

  So Mona had had the abortion. Did that mean she had killed Antonia? After all these years, why would she kill her mother? If it wasn’t to gain something, what else was accomplished by her death?

  The family history. Killing her stopped Antonia from talking about the past and thus revealing Mona’s abortion. Would her aunt kill to keep that secret?

  Skye thought about her aunt and uncle’s marriage, about his position in the Knights of Columbus. Mona might kill to protect that.

  Skye suddenly leaped from the couch. She reached for the phone and dialed. No one answered at her parents’ house.

  She swore in frustration. She had to talk this over with someone. What if she was wrong? She tried Charlie and Trixie. No one was home.

  Great, I guess I’ll have to talk to Wally. Probably should have been my first choice anyway, but he’s still so mad at me about going to the survivalist camp. Oh, well, this isn’t something I can put off.

  Skye reached once again for the phone, but this time there was no dial tone. She looked out the kitchen window, but the storm had worsened and she couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead.

  Shit, I suppose the electricity will be next. I’d better store some water just in case. Electrical outages in Scumble River had been known to last a long time.

  After she filled the bathtub, she’d change and drive in to see Wally. Might as well get the whole thing over with. Damn, he’d be really pissed about the whole incident with the Chicago police.

  Skye walked into her bathroom and leaned over the tub. Before she could straighten she felt something poke her in the back. She gasped and whirled around.

  A steel barrel stared her in the face. The person holding it said, “Stand up slowly with your hands in the air.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Nine, Ten, Round the Bend

  “ow did you get in here?” Skye asked. “I’m sure I locked all the doors.”

  “I borrowed the key from your mother’s purse,” Mona answered. “I’ll slip it back in before she notices it’s gone.”

  “What do you want?” Skye stared at the gun Mona held in her right hand.

  “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” Mona prodded Skye through the bedroom and into the living room.

  Skye sat down hard on the sofa. “Figured out what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t pull that innocent act on me. I knew you were closing in ever since you talked to Nurse Prynn. And you made it clear last night at dinner that you suspected me.” Mona’s mouth was bracketed by wrinkles Skye didn’t remember seeing until today.

  “I’ve suspected everybody.” Skye’s hand closed over a pen wedged between the couch cushions. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was the only one available.

  “Quit lying.” Mona gestured to the patio doors. “I’ve been watching you through the window, and I saw you jump up and run to the telephone.”

  “Then you know I’ve already called the police.” Skye looked her aunt in the eye.

  “I don’t think so. Your first inclination would be to call your mother, and I know she’s getting her hair done. Charlie isn’t home either. And I cut the wire pretty quickly, so I’ll have to take the chance you didn’t tell anyone.” Mona’s voice was firm.

  “If I can figure it out, so can someone else.” Skye inched to the edge of the seat, palming the pen.

  “No. You have knowledge others wouldn’t have. With Nurse Prynn gone there really is no one left who remembers.”

  Skye searched her memory, trying to think of something to say to change her aunt’s mind. “Aunt Minnie knows. Isn’t that why you tried to kill her with those sleeping pills?”

  “I didn’t try to kill Minnie. I never intended for her to die. I wanted everyone to think she had attempted suicide so they’d suspect her of killing Mom.” Mona rubbed her temple, a faraway look on her face. “She doesn’t know anything. She never knew I had an abortion. Minnie has always lived in her own world. She never even knew I was seeing Beau, so she couldn’t know I was pregnant by him. She was told I had my appendix out.” Mona moved closer to Skye. “Now get up. You need to put a dress on.”

  “Why do I need a dress?”

  Mona ignored Skye’s question as she walked her into the bedroom and opened the closet.

  “I still don’t understand why you’re willing to kill rather than have people know that you had an abortion as a teenager.” Skye took off her shorts and T-shirt and slipped on the dress Mona handed her. “That is why you killed your own mother, isn’t it? Because you were afraid Grandma would tell me about your abortion when she got to that point in the family history.”

  “You have no idea what I’ve been through. I begged Mom not to tell anyone, but her memory was getting so bad for the present, and seemed to be getting clearer for the past. I couldn’t chance it.” Mona stared at Skye. “She just wouldn’t cooperate. I asked her for the family Bible. I knew she would have made some note of the baby. But she said she didn’t know where it was. I asked for the pictures Minnie took while we were in Chicago with Nurse Prynn, and Mom claimed they had been thrown out years ago.”

  Skye opened her mouth to ask a question, but Mona continued with her own train of thought. “There was always someone at the farm so I never got a chance to look for the Bible or pictures when Mom was alive. And I needed to get to Joliet the day I brought her the brownies. She took longer to die than I expected, and the housekeeper’s death was an unexpected complication, so I had to go back and search after you all left that night. I was so afraid Neal would wake up and find me gone that I had to rush. You had already made the police suspicious so at least I didn’t have to be neat.” Mona smiled coldly. “Good thing we live close by. It was easy keeping an eye on who went to the farm after Mom died. I could sit in my living room and watch out the picture window. And when I couldn’t be there I set up my video camera.”

  “So that’s how you knew I had the Bible and the pictures. You saw me go by that night, then snuck over to the farm and watched me.” Skye visually searched the room for a better weapon than the pen she had slipped into her pocket.

  “Right.” Mona stared vacantly for a moment. “Let’s see, is there anything else we need here?”

  Skye glanced at her tennis shoes. Knowing she’d have a better chance of getting away if Mona didn’t make her change into heels, she asked another question, hoping to keep her aunt distr
acted. “But why? Okay, so abortion was illegal. It’s not as if anyone could prosecute you now.”

  “Neal would leave me if he found out. He’d be ruined in the community. How could he go on being the Grand Knight of the KC if this information got out?” Mona scrubbed her eyes with her fist. “Give me your keys. We’re going to church.”

  “Church?”

  “You need to go to confession. That way you’ll go straight to heaven.” Mona’s eyes gleamed. “In a way, I’m saving you from years of torment here on earth.”

  “That’s why you knew Grandma and Mrs. Jankowski had gone to confession that day. You arranged it.” Skye grabbed her keys from the dish by the door and handed them to her aunt.

  Skye preceded Mona outside. The rain had slowed to a drizzle. Mona made Skye get into the car via the driver’s side and prodded her over to the passenger seat with the gun.

  Using one hand, Mona put the Buick in gear and backed out of the driveway, then continued where she had left off. “Nurse Prynn wasn’t Catholic, so she was going to hell anyway.”

  “How did you find out about me locating Miss Prynn?” Skye asked.

  “She called me Saturday, demanding money.” Mona kept the gun trained on Skye. “She wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell her that Neal would notice if I took a large sum from our checking account. I begged her to let me pay a little bit each week. She said she was too old for the installment plan. So I agreed to bring her the cash on Sunday.”

  Skye watched the gun barrel as it wavered between her chest and head. “But you didn’t bring her money on Sunday, did you? You brought her a plate of your famous double fudge brownies. And instead of pecans you used those nuts you brought home from your Hawaiian vacation. The poison guide said they were very tasty, but extremely toxic.”

  “I told her I had forgotten the bank was closed on Sunday, and I’d have to bring her the money the next day, but I wanted to give her something to show my good intentions.” Mona finished Skye’s thought.

  “So, when did you steal Miss Prynn’s records?”

  “I didn’t. The old bat wouldn’t open the door to me on Sunday. She made me leave the brownies on the step. I didn’t know when she’d eat them. And when I came back Monday morning I couldn’t get into the house.” Mona frowned. “But with you gone the records will be just one among hundreds.”

  Skye parked the car in back of the church. “Now what?” She didn’t mention that Mona’s file was missing.

  “We go in. You make your confession and we leave. If you make a fuss, I shoot you right here. If you tell the priest, I’ll kill him too. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  The two women entered through the side door of the deserted building. It was over a hundred and forty years old, and the main architectural features had not been changed.

  They made their way down the main aisle past rows of plain wooden pews. To the right of the altar were the confessionals. About the size of coat closets, the two outer chambers shared their inner walls with the center booth where the priest sat waiting to hear from his parishioners. There were lights above the doors on the left and right to indicate whether they were occupied. The bulbs were operated by a person’s weight upon the kneelers inside. Both lights were off.

  Mona sat on the pew nearest the confessional and shoved Skye toward the coffinlike structure. “I’ll be right here, so don’t try anything. Remember, I can hear what you say in there.”

  Which was true. The confessionals were far from soundproof, and often those waiting could hear what the penitents in front of them had to confess.

  As Skye walked toward the door she put her hand in her pocket and found the pen she had hidden there.

  Skye entered slowly, searching for something on which to write. Spotting a discarded Sunday bulletin wedged in the corner, she grabbed it as she knelt on the platform facing the sliding mesh window.

  As soon as the screen opened, Skye started the ritual prayer. “Bless me Father for I have sinned.” As she spoke, she scribbled furiously.

  Sliding the note and the pen to the priest, she held her breath. Will he believe me? Is there any way he can help me?

  The priest gasped and Skye shut her eyes, afraid her aunt would hear. She was relieved when he began his expected response. The slip of paper came back as she recited her sins.

  She squinted to read in the dim light. The note said, “Can you crawl through the window? There’s a door leading to the rectory’s basement over here.”

  The priest was removing the screen as he gave Skye her penance. She stood on the wooden kneeler, putting her head and shoulders through the opening. He took hold of her around the waist and yanked. At first it didn’t seem as if her hips were going to fit. His prayers took on a note of desperation as he pulled. With a tearing sound, she finally popped through the tight space.

  They both froze, waiting to see if Mona had heard the material rip or noticed that the light above the door was now out. When there was no reaction from her, the priest opened a square of wood from the back wall near the floor and nudged Skye down the steps. He then began his prayer of absolution as he joined her on the stairs and replaced the panel. Just before the partition slid into place Skye heard the first gunshot.

  Father Burns and Skye locked the secret passage behind them and pushed an old dresser in front of the panel. As they struggled with the heavy piece of furniture they heard more gunshots coming from the church. Skye prayed no one would walk in on Mona’s rampage.

  “What now?” the priest asked.

  Skye noted his heightened color and rapid breathing. “You stay here, and I’ll go upstairs and phone the police.”

  He nodded and sank down into an old chair. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t get through the passage.”

  “Good.” Skye was halfway up the stairs when the door from the rectory burst open. She yelped and turned to run.

  “What are you two doing down here?” the parish housekeeper asked.

  Father Burns moved forward and put an arm around Skye. “Skye’s aunt is trying to kill her.”

  “Lord have mercy!” The older woman clutched her chest.

  “Stay here with Father. I’ll call the police,” Skye ordered.

  After telephoning Wally, Skye started to check the doors. None were locked. She had just reached the vestibule when the front door burst open.

  Mona stood with her gun pointed at Skye. “Did you really think you could get away from me?”

  “It’s too late. I’ve called the police. There’s nothing left to cover up. Everyone knows.” Skye tried to back away.

  “Then I have nothing to lose.” Mona took aim.

  At that moment they heard the first siren.

  “Please, Aunt Mona, put the gun down. Don’t make the police shoot you,” Skye begged.

  A look of loathing crossed Mona’s features. “This is all your fault and you have to pay.” Without warning, she squeezed the trigger.

  Nothing happened. Mona squeezed again and again. She was out of bullets. They could hear doors opening and shoe leather slapping the pavement. The police had arrived.

  Mona tried to grab Skye, but without a gun she was no match for her niece. Skye stepped into her aunt’s grasp, turned sharply, and easily broke Mona’s grip. Once again Skye’s training in takedowns for uncontrollable kids came in handy.

  Enraged, Mona threw the gun at Skye, rushed past and out the kitchen door. Skye hesitated for a moment before running after her. She reached the door just in time to see Mona fling herself into the Buick and squeal out of the parking lot.

  A few seconds later Chief Boyd and Officer Quirk ran in. Skye hastily told them what had happened, and Wally sent Quirk in pursuit of Mona. He also radioed for help from the county sheriff, and ordered in all off-duty officers.

  May and Charlie arrived at the rectory soon afterward, having heard the dispatches on their police radio scanners.

  They were all in the priest’s office and everyone was talking. Finally Wally sho
uted, “Okay, the first person who speaks without being spoken to leaves the room. You shouldn’t all be here anyway, but it would take more officers than I have available to make you leave. So sit down and shut up!”

  Skye was seated on the sofa between May and Charlie. Father Burns was at his desk. His housekeeper stood behind him as if on guard.

  Wally paced between the two groups. Finally he turned to Skye. “Tell me what happened after your aunt showed up at your house.”

  After Skye ran through the events up to the time she arrived at the church, Wally addressed the priest. “Why did you believe Skye so readily? Your fast thinking probably saved both your lives. When we checked, Mona had emptied six bullets into the confessionals.”

  Father Burns looked down at the rosary in his hands. “I can’t tell you a lot. I’m bound by the seal of the confessional, but let’s just say I knew Skye was telling the truth.”

  Wally narrowed his eyes. “In other words, Mona confessed to you?”

  “I really can’t say one way or another. Why does it matter?” Father Burns sat motionlessly.

  “Then let’s move on to the convenient passage between the church and rectory. How long has that been there?” Wally leaned his hands on the desk’s edge.

  “It’s been there as long as the church has been. We were a stop on the Underground Railroad.”

  “Why didn’t I know that?” Wally asked.

  “Because we keep it quiet. We don’t want to take away from the purpose of the church. We even considered filling in the tunnel the last time we remodeled, but decided at the last minute to keep it open.”

  “Thank God.” Skye sighed.

  As a result of Officer Quirk’s pursuit, Mona skidded off the road and wrapped the Buick around a tree on Scumble River Road heading toward Kankakee. The old car didn’t have air bags and Mona wasn’t wearing her seat belt. She was dead before they reached the hospital.

  The family grieved, but among themselves they agreed that it was probably for the best. They would try to remember Mona as she was, before trying to keep her secret had become a burden she could no longer shoulder.