Last Whisper

by Carlene Thompson

  “At first he didn’t believe it. For several days he kept saying there must be a mistake. Then, as the evidence mounted, he stopped defending Zach. But it was quite a while before he lost interest in the case.” Rev. Eads frowned. “I don’t see what any of this has to do with Bobby’s murder.”

  Jay ignored the comment. “Do you think Robert started seeing Brooke Yeager because of his interest in ‘The Rose Murder’?”

  “No! Certainly not!”

  “Do you think Zach Tavell could have murdered your son?”

  “What?” Eads’s face went white. “Zachary murder Bobby? Why would he?”

  “Because he thought Robert meant to do Brooke harm. Robert has been stalking her ever since they broke up.”

  “Bobby stalking Brooke? That’s ridiculous!”

  “It’s true,” Jay maintained. “I live beside her. I’ve heard him banging on her door and shouting for her to open it and talk to him.”

  Rev. Eads’s face went from white to red. “That’s ridiculous! I mean, you must be mistaken. Maybe there was a problem with the acoustics in the hallway . . .” Rev. Eads seemed to realize he was floundering, took a deep breath, then said firmly, “Detective Corrigan, their breakup was a mutual decision. Bobby told me so and he didn’t lie.”

  “Then why was Brooke considering getting a restraining order against him?” Jay asked.

  “A restraining order?” Rev. Eads’s eyes darted around as if he might find a reason somewhere in the room. “As I said, there must be some kind of mistake.” He trailed off weakly. “Bobby would never harass . . .”

  “He did.”

  Eads abruptly became agitated. “Why on earth would Bobby be stalking Brooke?”

  “Because he was afraid she was going to tell people, particularly you, why they broke up.”

  “What do you mean?” Eads demanded.

  Jay hesitated and Hal Myers took control. “Rev. Eads, Brooke ended her relationship with your son because she found out he was gay,” he said gently. “Now, you might already have known, but—”

  “Gay!” Eads nearly shouted, half-rising from his chair. “Do you mean homosexual? I never heard anything so preposterous, so silly, so . . .” He sputtered to a halt, then said, “He was dating Brooke Yeager. A female. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

  “It tells us he was trying to hide his sexual orientation,” Hal said. “The person he was romantically involved with was Aaron Townsend.”

  “Aaron Townsend?” Eads repeated faintly. “His boss? Or rather, former boss? Romantically involved?” Hal nodded. Eads looked deeply offended. “And how do you think you know this?”

  “Brooke Yeager told us. Reluctantly, I might add. She didn’t know, either, for a while. Then she caught Robert and Townsend in a compromising position. She was just as shocked as you are. Anyway, it seems your son was desperate to hide the truth. When Brooke found out, he was terrified she would tell people. That’s why he was stalking her—to persuade her not to tell the truth. Obviously, she didn’t intend to tell anyone—even we had to drag it out of her—but Robert seemed to go off the deep end about the whole thing. He just couldn’t or wouldn’t believe that she wasn’t going to tell the world. Or you.”

  Rev. Eads stared at them. Then he simply seemed to implode in his chair, sinking down, looking half the size he had a few moments before, his eyes going dull, his face gray, his lips parting. Jay was on the verge of suggesting they call the EMS when Eads said at last, “Well, I guess that explains a lot about Bobby’s behavior over the years. I don’t know why I didn’t see it. He probably needed someone to talk to and I let him down.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t let your son down in any way,” Hal said sincerely.

  “He didn’t feel free to be honest with me.”

  “Maybe he thought this was something he couldn’t tell you for fear of losing your love.”

  “There is nothing Bobby could have done to lose my love.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Myers said. He paused, then asked, “Do you think Tavell might have given Robert something to keep for him?”

  “Something to keep?” Eads repeated emptily. “Such as what?”

  “A letter opener.”

  “A what?”

  “A letter opener. And a wedding ring, but we’re more interested in the opener. Rev. Eads, we told you your son was stabbed to death. We didn’t tell you with what. The murder weapon was a silver letter opener that had been given to Anne Yeager by her first husband. Brooke has positively identified it. It disappeared a few days before Anne’s death, along with Anne’s wedding ring from Karl. Obviously, Tavell couldn’t have kept either in prison with him all these years, which had us really puzzled. Now that we’ve found out about the friendship between Robert and Tavell, I wonder if Tavell gave the letter opener and ring to Robert to keep for him.”

  “Why would Zachary take Anne’s letter opener and ring?” Eads asked.

  “Tavell was jealous of Karl Yeager. He didn’t like the way his wife cherished gifts from her first husband. Anyway, he could have taken the things and given them to Robert to keep with some flimsy excuse a fourteen-year-old wouldn’t question. Maybe he said he planned to hock them someday. The ring did have a diamond in it. Robert apparently liked Zach and might have been glad to do him a favor. Then Zach killed Anne, and Robert was left with the opener and the ring.”

  “That’s not possible. He would have said something,” Rev. Eads challenged.

  “You said Robert was fascinated by the murder case. He might have held on to the items as macabre keepsakes.” Rev. Eads glared at him. “Or, more likely, simply because he was afraid of being dragged into the whole mess. He was a kid, Rev. Eads. Kids don’t always use the best judgment.”

  Rev. Eads seemed to ponder what Hal had just said. “I suppose it’s possible. But if Tavell didn’t have the letter opener, how could he have used it to stab Bobby?”

  “Robert could have had the opener with him. Maybe he was planning to give it back to Brooke as a trade-off—‘I’ll give you your mother’s letter opener in return for your silence about me and Aaron.’ ” Rev. Eads’s face reddened with insult. He was about to protest, but Hal plowed on, his voice taking on a more soothing tone. “I’m sure such a thing wasn’t in character for Robert, but he was desperate, and desperate people don’t always act in character.”

  Rev. Eads seemed to disappear deep inside himself for a few seconds. Finally, he looked at them again and nodded. “Yes, he could have done something totally out of character because he was frightened. That must explain his behavior.” He paused. “But if Bobby did have the letter opener, how was he stabbed with it?”

  “Maybe Tavell confronted Robert in the alley,” Hal said. “Robert sensed he was in danger. He pulled out the opener to defend himself, only Tavell was stronger and more skilled with weapons. He wouldn’t want Robert raising some kind of alarm that would alert the surveillance police stationed in front and back of the apartment building.”

  “And so, to protect himself, Zachary wrested the letter opener away from Bobby,” Rev. Eads finished slowly. “And then he proceeded to stab my poor son to death.”

  Jay watched in deep sympathy as Rev. Eads buried his noble face in his hands and began to sob.

  2

  Madeleine Townsend burst into Aaron’s office, her color high, the light of anger simmering behind her dark brown eyes. Aaron looked up from his desk, startled. “Where were you yesterday?” Madeleine demanded.

  “Home. Why?”

  “Why? Because the Garden Club party was yesterday—the party where the white, pink, and cerise variegated rose was being named in Mother’s honor. And you were not home! I called time after time.”

  “I had the phone turned off. I had a migraine headache and I went to bed. I forgot about the damned garden party. I suppose Mother’s furious.”

  “To say the least.”

  Aaron sighed and tossed down his pen. “So what else is new? She’s always mad at me.
At least this time I gave her something to be mad about. I don’t, however, know what you are so mad about.”

  “Aside from missing the garden party, you were supposed to take me out to dinner night before last and you didn’t show up.”

  “I’m sorry. I forgot. Besides, I thought our plans were extremely tentative.”

  “You didn’t even call!”

  “Maddy, please lower your voice,” Aaron said evenly. “Just because my door is closed doesn’t mean the employees can’t hear you at that volume.”

  “I don’t care if they hear me. I don’t care what they think of me!”

  “Since when don’t you care what people think of you? I thought your main concern in life was what people thought of you.” Aaron took a deep breath. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean that. I really didn’t.”

  “You did!”

  “Maddy, has something happened? Are you upset about something and taking out your anger on me?”

  “I am upset about you and your increasing lack of regard for me!”

  “What do you mean?”

  Madeleine’s usually soft voice rose. “I mean all of these social gatherings of Mother’s are boring for me unless you’re around, but lately you only show up half the time! I mean I count on you for a dinner out once a week, an evening at the movies or the symphony, an invitation to come over when you’re opening one of your ridiculously expensive wines and downing it like it’s some magic elixir. Most of it tastes like crap, actually.”

  “Maddy!”

  “It does. I only pretend to like it. For you. I pretend for you. I try to look pretty for you. I try to act cheerful and charming for you, no matter how I feel. Everything I do is for you. You used to appreciate my efforts. Now you don’t seem to know I’m alive!”

  “Madeleine, please. . . .”

  “Don’t you dare try to placate me like I’m a child. That might work on acquaintances, but I’ve known you all my life. You were a selfish, careless, neglectful excuse for a boy and you haven’t improved one scintilla as a man!”

  Aaron stared at his beautiful sister for moment and saw a mixture of hardness and petulance in her face that reminded him of his mother. Maddy had become the center of his life ever since he’d wrecked the snowmobile on which she’d been a passenger and shattered her leg and hip. He’d been trying to make it up to her ever since then and he thought he had. After all, she’d seemed loving and forgiving. Now he knew she’d been acting. She hadn’t forgiven him for anything and for the last twenty-four years she’d clung to him with the tenacity of a leech.

  A leech? The word startled him. How could he possibly have such a thought? He felt overwhelmed by shame and was about to say something comforting, conciliatory, even tender, when Madeleine snarled, “You started ignoring me when he came into your life. You pushed me aside for that unsophisticated, sloppily adoring sycophant Robert Eads! Of all the men in the world to pick for a lover, why did it have to be him?”

  Aaron was too stunned to speak. He had no idea Maddy knew about his homosexuality, much less his affair with Robert. How long had she known about his sexual preference? Exactly how repelled was she by it? Plenty, if the look on her face told him anything. He couldn’t bear to see her disgust.

  “I . . . I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said weakly. “Are you implying I’m . . . gay?”

  Madeleine burst into bitter laughter. “God, Aaron, do you think I just realized it? I’ve known for years. And I don’t care who you have sex with—women, men, animals!” Aaron’s jaw dropped slightly in shock. He’d never heard his gentle sister speak harshly, much less with such venom. “What I care about, Aaron, is that you stopped putting me first. I am your little sister that you crippled, whose life you ruined, whom you turned into an object of pity to some people and a freak to others. You did all of that, so you owe me. Instead, you pushed me aside for some pretty-faced young twerp.”

  Madeleine stopped, her face slightly damp and pink from rage, her eyes seeming lit by something ugly, almost savage. Finally, she drew an almost heaving breath. “I thought when he was gone, things would change. But they haven’t. You’re just as far away from me as you were when he was alive, and I will not stand for it!”

  Aaron sat astonished as he acknowledged the acrimony his sister felt for him because of the accident. He’d been eaten up with guilt because of it since he was sixteen, and he’d heaped love and attention on Madeleine, hoping he could partly atone for what he’d done. He knew the exercise was useless where his mother was concerned. She never had and never would forgive him for “ruining” the beautiful girl she’d looked at almost as a valuable museum piece, not a beloved child.

  But Aaron had thought Maddy loved him enough to forgive him. She’d been his shadow since she could walk again and she’d never acted happier than when she was in his company. Now he realized she felt he owed his entire being to her. She was to be his Alpha and Omega, leaving no room for anyone else in his life, male or female.

  “Does Mother know about me?” he finally asked in a frail, frightened voice he loathed.

  “Do you think you’d be sitting in that fine leather chair here at the agency if Mother knew? A couple of times she’s had doubts about you, but I quashed them. I have kept you in her good graces as much as you can ever be, and it hasn’t been easy. And she’s not the only one. Brooke Yeager didn’t just suspect. She knew. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at you after Robert’s hasty retreat. Do you realize the damage she could do to you, Aaron?”

  “Brooke would never do anything to hurt me. She didn’t hurt Robert. She’s not vindictive. She’s kind and—”

  “Oh, shut up, Aaron.” Madeleine leaned over the desk and slammed her fist on the shining wood. Aaron had forgotten how strong her right arm had become from the years of lifting her whole body weight up on her cane. “You don’t really know a thing about Brooke Yeager except that she’s an attractive asset to the office and she has a tragic past. You don’t know me, either. All these years you’ve thought I was fragile, vulnerable, the one in need of protection. Instead, you were the one in need of protection, particularly from your choices of lovers, and most especially from Robert Eads. You loved him, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”

  “I don’t know.” Aaron felt sick. He didn’t know how he’d felt about Robert. He didn’t know anything anymore now that he was seeing his sister’s true nature—the nature of a parasite. And then it hit him. She was a parasite willing to do whatever she could to rid herself of someone she perceived to be her rival. “The phone call and the letter threatening to tell Mother about Robert,” Aaron managed. “Robert and I thought they were from Brooke, but they were from you, weren’t they, Maddy?”

  “You weren’t being as careful with Robert as you had been with your other lovers. I knew Mother was going to find out. I was trying to warn you to be more cautious.”

  Aaron gave her a long, flat look. “No. That is not the reason. You called and wrote because you thought Robert meant more to me than anyone in the past had and you were jealous. You wanted to scare me into giving him up. And you hoped I’d think they were Brooke’s handiwork because you wanted her out of my life, too.” Madeleine didn’t answer and an awful thought crept into Aaron’s mind. Just how jealous had Madeleine been of Robert? Clearly, she wasn’t the calm, stable woman Aaron had thought her to be. There was something deeply wrong with her beyond the injury to her leg. But how wrong? What was she capable of? Exactly how far had his beloved sister been willing to go to get both Robert and Brooke out of his life?

  3

  Brooke looked up from her desk to see Madeleine Townsend standing in her brother’s glass-enclosed office. Her face was flushed, her usually perfect hair tousled, and she leaned so far over his desk she looked like she was going to collapse onto it. Brooke could hear voices coming from the office although she couldn’t make out words. In her three years at Townsend Realty, she had never seen Aaron and Madeleine argue.

  “Wonder what
that’s all about?” Judith Lambert asked, suddenly appearing in front of Brooke. Last year when Judith had dated Aaron, everyone had been surprised because they couldn’t believe she was Aaron’s type, even though they had no idea who would be Aaron’s type. Ever since their much-anticipated breakup, Judith seemed to spend half her time watching Aaron’s every move. Right now her blue eyes were bright with curiosity. With her extremely thin body and short, spiky haircut, she reminded Brooke of some kind of high-strung miniature dog that always seemed to be quivering with anxiety or excitement.

  “I have no idea,” Brooke said absently, turning her gaze back to her work. She didn’t like Judith with her blatant nosiness and constant gossiping. Brooke knew that more than once she’d been the target of Judith’s voracious curiosity and rumormongering, especially about “The Rose Murder.” “Brothers and sisters argue sometimes, Judith. It’s probably not a big deal.”

  “That brother and sister don’t argue,” Judith persisted, unfazed by the dismissive tone of Brooke’s voice. “In fact, they’re so close, it’s weird. It used to drive me nuts when I was dating Aaron. Madeleine was always around. She’d arrive just as we were leaving for a date, and half the time Aaron would ask her to come with us. And she would!” Judith blew air hard out of her nose like a horse. Brooke half-expected her to snort and flap her lips. “Couldn’t she tell he was just being polite when he invited her along?”

  “Maybe she could tell he wasn’t. Maybe he really wanted her company.”

  “When he was on a date with me?” Judith clearly thought the idea of a man not wanting to be alone with her was absurd. “No, there’s something funny about those two.”

  “Oh.”

  “Honestly, I know what I’m talking about.”

  “Ummm. Okay.”

  “Mark my words. Strange. Peculiar. Unnatural.”

  Judith obviously had no intention of giving up no matter how uninterested Brooke acted. “Such as what, Judith?” Brooke finally asked bluntly. “Do you think they’re not really brother and sister? That they are actually married and just trying to put one over on all of us?”