by Lesley Crewe
She held him tighter. “But to know about the treasure? And to say I know what you did. I think they mean us.”
“Elsie, I don’t want to frighten you, but do you think Graham could have made that call?”
She let go of him and walked over to the window. “Of course not. He wouldn’t frighten me like that. I know he’s upset about you and me, but he’d never threaten to harm me.”
“I hate to point it out, but he doesn’t have an alibi for the night of Aunt Hildy’s murder. He left Bunny’s bed in the middle of the night and his only explanation is that he went for a walk? No matter how you slice it, it’s a feeble excuse.”
She shivered at the thought. “The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach.”
Harry came over and took her hand. “People don’t want to believe someone they love, or loved, could be capable of something this terrible. But Elsie, you said so yourself, no one else would want to kill Aunt Hildy, except maybe one of your family, out of greed. Think about it. There was no one in the city she knew anymore. No one broke into the house. And even if someone was bent on murder, there were plenty of people who could’ve been shot on the first floor, not an old lady in a back bedroom upstairs. And I hate to say it, but the only way the killer could have run downstairs in the dark without being caught was if he knew the layout of the house very well and was able to get in and out quickly.”
Elsie wrung her hands. “I know it doesn’t look good, and maybe I am in denial, but I still say it couldn’t be him.”
He held her shoulders. “Don’t be blind out of misplaced loyalty. You know what will happen if you’re wrong?”
She shook her head.
“You’ll be dead wrong.”
When Elsie got home from work, she was confused. It was early evening, but there was no one there. A glorious aroma lingered in the kitchen so Mrs. Minelli had to have been there recently. Elsie looked in the microwave and found a plate wrapped with wax paper and a note. “To Mrs. B From Mrs. M.”
Realizing she hadn’t eaten all day, Elsie dove into Mrs. Minelli’s veal Parmesan. She reached for the mail and looked for something other than bills. There was an envelope with no name on it, stuck between the other letters. That was odd. Probably some local kid advertising leaf-raking abilities. Taking a bite of her dinner, she opened the envelope.
She didn’t want to believe it. Her stomach curdled and she spit her mouthful into a napkin.
It was a picture of her and Harry naked on the bed. The fact that someone would take a picture through a window was disgusting enough, but what really broke her heart was that it looked just like a photo in a dirty magazine.
She ran up the stairs, barely making it to the toilet before throwing up. All the horror of the day overwhelmed her and she had to get rid of it. She gagged until she had nothing left. She reached for the sink and splashed cold water on herself, then brushed her teeth and tried to feel better.
She had to tell Harry. She went into the bedroom and saw them right away—two more pictures on her bed. She started to tremble, her teeth chattered as she picked up the first one. It was another shot of her and Harry.
“No.”
Then she picked up the other, expecting the same thing, only this time it was a picture of Graham and Bunny.
She screamed.
Everyone was across at the other house. Mrs. Minelli refused to go over to see the new apartment until everyone ate. Then she refused to go over until the dishes were done. When there were no excuses left, she burst into tears.
Eli rushed to her side, terrified that maybe all this was too much for her. Dahlia ran to get her water and Slater got some Kleenex while Lily comforted her.
“If you don’t want to go over to the new apartment tonight, you don’t have to Mrs. Minelli,” Eli said. “Maybe you’d rather stay here?”
She waved her hand around, blew her nose and continued to cry up a storm. The kids weren’t sure what to do. Mrs. Minelli tried to explain through her hiccuping sobs. “I thank God for you kids. I bless the day you came into my life, Eli. You and your precious girl. Everyone is so nice to me. I never thought anything good would happen to me and it’s like a dream. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone.”
The two couples surrounded her in a group hug and reassured her they weren’t going anywhere. She kissed them, took a deep breath and said she was ready. Slater picked up her suitcase, Eli took her spice rack and the girls escorted her out the door.
They trooped over to the house and went up into Eli’s new apartment. Juliet, Faith and Robert were already there.
Mrs. Minelli’s hands flew to her mouth and she blessed herself. “I’m home! Oh, look at this!” She pointed to her solid oak sideboard, the one piece of furniture that nearly gave both Eli and Robert a hernia when they carried it up the stairs. “It looks so nice against that wall!” Then she pointed to the other wall. “And you even put up my pictures. Look, here’s my Mama and Papa and that’s my uncle Guido. Oh, and this one,” she hurried over to another picture, “this is my sister Rosa and her son Umberto.” She twirled around the living room once more. “Oh how can I say thank you!”
By the time Faith and the kids wandered home across the garden after the housewarming, a police car was parked outside the house.
“What now?” Faith wondered.
“Maybe they found the treasure,” Eli said.
They ran into the house. Elsie sat with Harry at the kitchen table.
“Have you found the treasure?” Lily asked.
“No.”
“What’s wrong, Mom?” Dahlia asked.
Elsie sighed. “Look, I can’t go into details but I’ve had some trouble at work with phone calls and things, and tonight when I got home, some items were left for me to find and I was upset, so I called Harry. It’s nothing that won’t be solved or figured out, but I can’t discuss it right now.”
Faith made a face. “Things were left? How’s that possible? I know we were over at Eli’s moving furniture, but Mrs. Minelli was here.”
Harry asked them, “Did anyone check the mail today?”
Faith answered. “I brought it in this afternoon when I ran over here to get a screwdriver. I just put it on the table.”
“Look guys, do any of you know where your father is?”
“Why?” Lily asked. “Has this got something to do with him?
Tell me it has nothing to do with him.”
“I didn’t say that. I just wondered when he’d be home, that’s all.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I haven’t seen his truck all day,” Faith said.
“I hope nothing’s happened to him,” Dahlia cried.
“I wonder if you’d mind leaving your mother and I alone for a minute,” Harry said. “I have a few more questions to ask her.”
Everyone looked at her and she smiled. “I’m fine. You go. I’ll be along later.”
When they left, she said, “So with everyone over at Eli’s, someone had plenty of time to get in here.”
“That’s possible I suppose, but what about Mrs. Minelli?”
Elsie leaned forward. “They’d only have to sneak up the stairs to my room and back down again. Mrs. Minelli would never hear them. The kitchen’s at the back of the house and she’d be banging pots around.”
Harry looked at her. “Or, Graham could have done it in about two seconds after you left for work.”
“Oh God. I can’t believe it, but it must be him.” Elsie held her arms across her chest. “He must have followed us. Who else would? And the picture of the two of them. That was cruel.” She put her hand on Harry’s arm. “What should I do when he comes home? What do I say?”
“Tell him the police know about his little games and it won’t help his status on the murder case if he continues to harass you.”
“Thanks for the help Harry. You must think my family is nuts.”
“I’ll have him by the nuts if he doesn’t let go of your hand,” Graham said.
&n
bsp; Both Harry and Elsie jumped. Graham stood by the back door. He was drunk.
Elsie let go of Harry’s hand in a hurry. “God. You didn’t drive home like that did you?”
“I took a cab. Just in time to see you and lover-boy from the back deck.”
Harry stood. “Where were you today?”
Graham swayed. “Where was I? What business is it of yours? No wait. I’ve got nothing to hide. Wouldn’t want to give the police any more trouble, now would I? I went to work and then I went to a bar, in case you didn’t notice.”
Elsie raised her voice. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“I’m doing something to you? You could have fooled me. I think this is the guy who’s doing something to you. Isn’t that right officer?” Graham tried to focus on Harry.
“I’d advise you not to make things more difficult for yourself. Do you know anything about pictures?”
Graham steadied himself on the kitchen counter. “Like the movie pictures? Now that’s something I haven’t done in a million years. Go to the pictures. Too busy at work, bringing home the bacon for an ungrateful wife and kids.”
“Did you take pictures of me? And leave them for me to find?”
“Why would I take pictures of you? I know you. Or at least I did before Mr. Handsome came on to the scene.”
“I’ve had phone calls and now photos of me and…and there was one of you and Bunny.”
Graham blinked and pulled his head back, as if trying to see her properly. “What are you talking about? What about Bunny?”
Harry said, “Elsie found a compromising picture of you and Bunny. But you don’t have a clue how it got there?”
“No. I don’t have a clue. I don’t have one clue. I’m clueless, get it? Clueless.”
“How could you, Graham? How could you do this to the girls? Because all this will come out. Everyone will know what kind of man you are.”
Graham suddenly stopped swaying and took a minute to focus his eyes. “I’m the kind of man who wants to be forgiven. I’m the type of man who wants to make it up to you. But you’ve decided you don’t want me anymore. You’d rather have this guy, I guess, judging by the way you looked through that window.” He shook his head, as if to clear it. “This is the guy you want now, isn’t it, Elsie? This is the guy you go to bed with?”
She started to say something, but Harry held up his hand to stop her.
“How do you know that? Where’s your proof?” Harry caught her eye. She looked at him and understood.
“Proof? She doesn’t love me anymore. That’s kick-in-the-head proof.”
“You didn’t follow Elsie in the car last night, did you?”
“Last night? Why would I follow her around? She doesn’t want me. I don’t follow people who don’t want me.” Graham was turning maudlin. “Bunny said she wanted me but now she doesn’t, so now no one wants me. No one at all.”
He looked green by this point. He was fading fast.
Harry said, “Let’s get him to bed.” They took his arms and practically carried him downstairs.
“No one. No one wants me. What did I do? Why does everyone hate me? The girls hate me, Elsie hates me and now Bunny hates me. I don’t understand. I’m a sweet guy. I’d never hurt a fly…except maybe Juliet. She bugs me.”
They put him on his bed and Elsie unbuttoned his collar while Harry took off his shoes. She threw a blanket over him and, afraid he’d be sick, put a basin by the bed. She’d never seen him like this before.
As he nodded off, he mumbled, “Where’s Elsie? Where are you, baby? I want my baby.” Then he started to snore with his mouth open, looking about as pathetic as a person can look when they’re three sheets to the wind. She leaned over him and brushed his hair away from his forehead.
Harry cleared his throat, and she turned around and left the room with him. They looked at each other.
Harry said, “Being that drunk is almost as good as a lie detector. It seems impossible, but I don’t think he’s lying.”
“I don’t either. And I should have known better. He’d have come through that window and punched your lights out instead of taking pictures of us.”
Harry started to say, “So that leaves…”
“Bunny.”
“She wants to get even for some reason.”
“Graham stopped seeing her for a while, because of the funeral and everything. That must have made her mad. Did you know she told the police he wanted the treasure so he could run away with her?”
“There’s nothing like a woman scorned. And if she gave him up to the police, there’s no telling what else she might do.”
Just then they heard a creak on the stairs.
“Who’s there?”
The girls crept down the stairs. Lily said, “We saw you bring Daddy down here. Is he drunk?”
“You could say that.”
Dahlia confessed, “We just heard what you said about Bunny and…” She looked at her sister. “We think we should tell you something.”
“Well, spill it.”
She took a deep breath. “Remember the day the police took Dad for questioning?”
Elsie nodded.
Lily picked up the story. “Remember how we said maybe Faith and Juliet…”
“…and Robert killed Aunt Hildy. Yes, I remember and I told you not to be so foolish.”
Dahlia continued. “So the three of them took off after you left and we thought something was up so we followed them. It was Slater’s idea to tail them.” Her sister elbowed her.
“Anyway, we followed them to Bunny’s apartment.”
“Bunny’s apartment? Why were they there?” Elsie looked at Harry as if he knew why.
“We never found out because Slater tripped and we all fell down and everyone hollered and Bunny opened the door to see what was going on.”
Harry said, “What has all this got to do with anything, girls?”
Lily said in a rush, “She yelled at us and said she told the police the truth and she didn’t give a fig if we believed her or not. She said to tell Dad if he ever came near her, he’d have a hole in his heart like Aunt Hildy. But how could she have known that? No one knew but us.”
Elsie was horrified. “Really? Why didn’t you say anything? You accuse your own relatives and yet you keep a piece of information like this from us?”
They looked at each other. “Because when we thought about it, we realized Dad probably told her.”
The wind went out of Elsie’s sails. “That’s true.”
“I’m sorry we eavesdropped,” Lily said, “but if Bunny’s doing awful things, maybe she did kill Aunt Hildy and maybe we should have told you before.”
They looked frightened and worn out. Their mother gave them a hug. “It’s all right girls. I need to talk to Harry in private, so why don’t you guys go over to Eli’s for a bit, okay?”
They nodded and went upstairs. Harry and Elsie followed them and sat back at the kitchen table.
“I think it’s probably a long shot that Bunny had anything to do with it,” Harry said. “Why would she want to kill your aunt?”
Elsie shrugged. “The treasure? Knowing Graham, he probably mouthed off about Aunt Hildy more than once, so Bunny would’ve known about it. Maybe she just wanted to scare her into revealing where it was. I know Bunny wanted Graham bad and probably thought he’d leave town with her if she found it.”
“Maybe.”
“But what she didn’t reckon with was Aunt Hildy, who would have told her to take a hike, God love her. And look what happened,” Elsie moaned.
“It still seems unlikely she’d get in and out without anyone seeing her.” Harry stopped. “But of course…”
“Of course what?”
He gave her a sympathetic look. “Graham had her over here. Maybe he gave her a tour of the whole joint when you guys weren’t home.”
“But Aunt Hildy was here. Of course she napped a lot. And Faith’s here, but even she goes out from time to time.” Elsie sl
apped her hand on the table. “Oh that miserable man. If they were in my bed, so help me. I swear, if that walking mammary gland is responsible for Aunt Hildy’s death, I’ll have those socalled tits of hers surgically removed and re-sewn on her fat backside.”
Harry smiled.
“What? You don’t think I’ll do it?”
“No. I just think you’re cute when you’re mad.”
She waved her hand. “Oh pooh.” Her eyes suddenly widened. “And if she’s hell-bent on hurting us maybe she got in here and took the treasure.”
“She didn’t know you found all the loot and she certainly didn’t know where Graham hid it.”
“No, but since she knew about it, maybe she had a quick nose around when she dropped the pictures off. The sewing room is next to our bedroom. It would only take a second to slip in there and the wardrobe would actually be the first place you’d look if you were in a hurry. She must have flipped when she found it.”
“But no one saw her.”
“There’s no one at home on this street during the day. Even Mrs. Noseworthy plays bingo with her cronies at the church hall three mornings a week. Bunny took a chance and it paid off.”
“How did she get in, do you think?”
Elsie cringed. “This is such a big house. Sometimes I forget to lock a window. I know I need a security system.”
“You do. Get one.”
“How can we prove that she did it?”
“The only way is to get her to confess,” Harry said.
“I could ask her over here and say I want to talk about Graham. I’ll tell her he’s heartbroken over their breakup.”
He laughed. “She won’t believe that.”
She pointed a finger at him. “I’ve seen her in action. She’s out of her mind over him. That’s why she’s pulled all this crap. She’d jump at the chance if she thought she could get him back.”
“You may be right,” he nodded. “If that’s the case, then you ask her over for a chat and we’ll try to record your conversation in case you get something out of her. But I’ll be here. If she’s capable of these horrible stunts, I don’t want you alone with her. I’ll hide nearby. And for heaven’s sake, don’t tell your family this is going down. From what I’ve seen of them, things could unravel very quickly, so they need to be out of the house until it’s over.”
