by B. J Daniels
“Geraldine was poisoned?” Maddie cried. “That’s not possible.”
Laney tried to calm her cousin. “Maddie, talk to me. I know something is going on with you.”
Maddie was shaking her head from side to side and crying hysterically.
“Geraldine stopped by the house looking for you before the party. She was very upset. She thought you might know where her diamond bracelet was.”
Maddie’s tears slowed into jerky sobs. She looked up, fear in her eyes.
“Where is Geraldine’s bracelet, Maddie?” Laney asked, her heart in her throat.
“I don’t know. I put it back in the box before I left for the party. I swear I did.”
Laney felt sick. “Who else might have come into the house after you left?”
“How should I know?” Maddie cried. “You know no one here locks their doors. Anyone could have stopped by and seen the jewelry box. I left it on the table with the rest of the things Geraldine had brought out for me to get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“To sell. Geraldine was going to sell some of the jewelry to a woman at an antique store in Billings.”
“She was selling her jewelry?” Laney asked, her heart pounding. “Did she say why?”
Maddie shook her head.
Laney looked around the empty house, disgusted with herself for what she was about to do. But now both her sister and her cousin were in trouble. “Do you know where Geraldine kept her important papers?”
* * *
NICK HELPED WITH THE SALAD while Laci whipped up her favorite salad dressing. He couldn’t help the excitement he felt at the thought of seeing Laney again. He tried to put his finger on what it was about Laney Cavanaugh and smiled to himself.
She made him think of a summer breeze billowing white curtains, fresh-baked apple pie cooling on a kitchen windowsill, hot dogs roasting over a grill in the backyard on the Fourth of July. It made no sense and yet it felt as if it were the only thing that made any sense in his crazy world.
He’d grown up in L.A., a rough street kid who’d straightened up in time to become a cop like the rest of his family. His old man had been a cop. So had three of his uncles and a couple of his cousins.
His father was Irish, his mother Italian. A terrible combination since they were both pigheaded and opinionated. His father was large and loud. Nick never thought he’d miss them, but he did.
He thought about Laney and how she wouldn’t be intimidated by any of them, not his great-aunt Elvira or even his uncle Cosmos. Cosmos would love Montana. Nick doubted he’d ever been out of California since he’d migrated from New York back in the forties.
Nick heard a car, then another one, pull up outside. He warned himself not to do anything stupid as he watched Laci taste the salad dressing, closing her eyes, savoring it before announcing it was ready.
“You really do love to cook, don’t you?” he said.
Her face softened. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. All my favorite memories are tied to cooking, the smells, the tastes, the feel of something as simple as stirring.” She grinned. “You think I’m nuts, huh?”
“No, I like to cook. My Italian grandmother taught me to make a mean rigatoni.”
“So you’re Italian?” Laney Cavanaugh said from the doorway. “That explains your dark looks, but not the name Rogers.”
He felt his pulse take off at just the sight of her. She was wearing white capri pants and a pale yellow sleeveless top, her skin tanned and sleek. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes that wonderful deep sea-green.
“I have no idea where the Rogers came from,” he said, feeling tongue-tied. For a moment talking to Laci, he’d forgotten his cover story and had offered more than he’d meant to.
Laney was eyeing him as if she’d seen that moment when he’d let down his guard. “Are you through grilling my sister?” she asked coming into the room.
“A little cooking humor?” Laci asked with a nervous laugh. “I told him I wouldn’t poison anyone with anything I cooked and he believes me.”
Laney lifted a brow. “Is that true?” she asked him pointedly.
“I’ve just begun my investigation. I’ll let you know if I survive lunch.”
* * *
NICK SMILED, REVEALING two small dimples Laney hadn’t noticed before. She was so distracted that it took her a moment to register what he was saying.
“You’re staying for lunch?”
“Your sister invited me and after watching her cook, I just couldn’t say no.”
She was going to have to sit through an entire meal with him? The last thing she wanted was the deputy sheriff at the table and she had a feeling her cousin didn’t either as Maddie came into the room, stopping short at the sight of Nick.
“The deputy is joining us for lunch,” Laney said to Maddie and stepped around the breakfast counter to join her sister at the stove.
“How you are doing, Maddie?” she heard Nick ask her cousin, but didn’t hear Maddie’s reply.
“What were you thinking, asking him to lunch?” Laney demanded in a hushed whisper to her sister.
“It was the polite thing to do,” Laci whispered back. “Anyway, he’s cute and you like him. I thought you’d be happy.”
Laney groaned. She wanted to remind her sister that Nick was investigating a murder. But Laci being Laci knew she was innocent so wasn’t in the least concerned.
Laney wished she shared her confidence in the judicial system. Unfortunately, Laney had seen enough true-life crime stories to know that innocent people went to prison all the time for crimes they didn’t commit.
And after what she’d discovered in Geraldine Shaw’s financial records, she was even more worried. Geraldine had been withdrawing rather large amounts of cash for months.
Given how frugally the woman had lived otherwise, the withdrawals sent up a red flag that it didn’t take an accountant to question.
When Deputy Sheriff Nick Rogers found out about the unexplained monthly withdrawals, Laney knew he was going to think the same thing she did.
Someone had been blackmailing Geraldine Shaw—and the money had been about to run out.
Chapter Six
Nick could feel the tension at the table all during lunch. Maddie picked at her food, seeming to make a point of not looking in his direction. Her eyes were red from crying and he noticed that her hand holding her fork was shaking.
He had to wonder what had her so upset. He planned to ask her the moment he got her alone.
“This is an amazing meal,” he said to Laci. “I can’t remember one I’ve enjoyed more. What is the herb in the salad dressing? I can’t quite place it.”
She grinned, obviously pleased. “Chervil. It’s the secret ingredient. You weren’t kidding, you really do like to cook.”
“I wouldn’t lie about a thing like that.”
“But you would other things?” Laney asked.
He glanced over at her. She hadn’t said two words during lunch. Until now. “It’s a figure of speech.”
“Really?” she said sarcastically. Like a mother hen with Laci and Maddie, she was obviously angry with him for suspecting her sister and cousin. He found that and her all the more appealing.
Laci chattered about everything under the sun as they finished their meals, none of it requiring a comment from her sister or cousin. He concentrated on his meal, reminding himself why he was in Montana and just what he had to lose if he messed up. Getting involved with Laney would be the worst thing he could do.
“So do you like to cook, Laney?” he asked when Laci went into the kitchen to get the fresh fruit she’d prepared for dessert.
Laney’s head jerked up as if she’d been miles away. “I can’t even boil water.”
“Now who’s
lying,” Laci said as she returned with the fruit. “You have to excuse my sister. She’s the analytical one.” She grinned at Laney.
He looked from Laci to Laney, sensing an inside joke.
“I’m an accountant,” Laney said with a sigh. “My sister has always given me a hard time because I look before I leap.”
“What about you, Maddie?” Nick asked.
Maddie’s eyes widened in alarm. “What about me?”
“Do you like to cook?”
She flushed and looked around as if trying to find a safe place to land. “Arlene is trying to teach me. She says I’m impossible.”
“I’ll teach you,” Laci jumped in. “It’s easy and fun. You’ll see.”
Nick doubted anything would be easy and fun with Arlene.
Maddie went back to moving her food around her plate.
He had to get Maddie alone to talk to her. Getting her to confide in him he feared would be much harder.
“I need to ask you a few questions,” Nick said to Maddie after lunch. He saw the young woman glance at Laney. “It’s just preliminary questions.”
“I suppose it would be all right,” Maddie said.
He gave her a reassuring smile. “Why don’t we step outside to my patrol car.”
Maddie hesitated, then followed him out. Once inside, he started the engine and saw her jump.
“Just turning on the air-conditioning,” he said. “I want you to be comfortable.” She was anything but. The slightest movement from him and she looked as if she might fly off the seat.
“Why don’t you tell me about your relationship with Mrs. Shaw,” he said.
“I didn’t have a relationship with her.”
“You worked for her. You knew her. Were you friends? Or just employee-employer?”
“The last. I just helped her out once in a while. I barely knew her.”
Nick raised a brow. “I talked to her attorney this morning. I understand she left you everything but her house and property. It’s not a lot but you’re the only single person named in her will.”
Maddie looked shocked that he knew this. “How did you...”
“You must have meant something to her for her to leave you all her personal possessions and what money she had.”
“I don’t know why she did that,” Maddie said, sounding near tears. “I had no idea.”
Nick believed that she hadn’t been expecting the inheritance. He just couldn’t figure out why Geraldine Shaw had put Maddie Cavanaugh in her will. But he suspected Maddie did know why and that was what had her so upset.
* * *
LANEY STOOD AT THE WINDOW, peering out through the curtains, worry making her ill.
“What is wrong with you?” Laci demanded as she dragged Laney away from the window.
“I probably shouldn’t have let him talk to Maddie without an attorney present.”
“For heaven’s sake, why? It’s not like she poisoned Geraldine,” Laci said.
“I didn’t tell you this, but Geraldine stopped by before the party. She was very upset. She couldn’t find a diamond bracelet that she’d shown Maddie earlier.”
Laci was shaking her head. “Maddie didn’t take it.”
“I hope not. What makes it more complicated is that Geraldine named Maddie in the will, leaving her all her personal belongings, including her jewelry.”
“Well, see, then it doesn’t matter. Maddie would get the bracelet anyway.”
Laney stared at her little sister. Oh, to be Laci and live life in rose-colored glasses. “If the deputy finds out about the missing diamond bracelet, he might consider that a motive for murdering Geraldine. You know, to keep it from coming out that she’d taken the bracelet. After all, Maddie didn’t know Geraldine was leaving her anything.” At least Laney hoped Maddie’s reaction at the Shaw house had been an indication of that rather than guilt. “And when you consider how oddly Maddie has been acting lately...”
“There’s an explanation for all of this,” Laci said looking worried. “I’m going to have to bake something. Chocolate. Chocolate pudding cake.” She headed for the kitchen. “Maybe the deputy would like some.”
Laney could only shake her head as she heard her sister searching for the recipe. She stepped back to the window as Maddie climbed out of the deputy’s patrol car. Her cousin looked scared to death.
Laney’s two-week summer vacation in Montana was up in a few days but she knew she couldn’t leave until she’d cleared her sister—and cousin.
* * *
AS NICK LEFT, he mulled everything over in his mind. Geraldine had been a penny-pincher. She’d been paying Maddie Cavanaugh only a couple dollars an hour to help her sort through her things.
So why had Maddie taken the job? Even babysitters made more than two dollars an hour. At least where he was from. Nick reminded himself to ask Maddie when he saw her again.
Arlene Evans seemed glad to see him. “I wanted to talk to you about Geraldine Shaw,” Nick said as he sat down gingerly on the plastic-covered chair she offered him.
Arlene perched primly on the matching plastic-covered couch, her hands in her lap, a virtuous look on her face. He could hear the throb of the stereo coming from down the hall. At least one of her offspring apparently was home.
“Geraldine Shaw?” Arlene asked as if surprised he would ask about her.
“Did you know her long?”
“All my life.”
“What was she like?”
Arlene took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Cheap. The woman wouldn’t spend a penny if she could get away with it.”
“Maybe she didn’t have it to spend,” he said. “I heard her husband Ollie died last summer and didn’t have any life insurance.”
Arlene scoffed. “He left her well-off enough. Ollie was just like her, had the first dime he ever made. Tightfisted he was.” She leaned toward him conspiratorially. “Geraldine came from old money back East. She and Ollie had money. Hoarders, that’s what they were. Didn’t trust banks either.” She nodded knowingly.
“Are you saying they buried their money in the backyard?”
She smiled. “Maybe. Or hid it in that house. Never invited anyone over. Stayed to themselves. Who knows what’s hidden over there?”
He could see Arlene going over there at night digging up the floorboards looking for the loot. Was there loot? Nick doubted it. Just a rumor that someone, probably Arlene, had started. And just such a rumor could have gotten Geraldine Shaw killed.
“I know for a fact that Mrs. Shaw died almost broke,” Nick said.
Arlene smiled. “She just wanted everyone to think that was the case. Don’t let anyone kid you, Geraldine Shaw didn’t look all that bright, but she was a smart one.”
“If she was so smart then how is it she managed to eat the only poisoned macaroon at the party?” It gave him an immense amount of pleasure to see Arlene Evans at a loss for words. Her mouth opened and closed like a guppy’s, but nothing was coming out for a full thirty seconds.
“Poisoned?”
He nodded. “I was wondering if you had any idea who might have wanted her dead?”
“Who?” She sucked in a breath, then expelled it in a rush. “I’ll tell you who.” She glanced down the hallway toward what he assumed were her son’s and daughters’ rooms in the direction where the music boomed behind a closed door.
“Yes?” he asked.
Arlene looked a little guilty before she said, “Maddie Cavanaugh. I hate to say it about my son’s fiancée, but I overheard Maddie and Geraldine arguing outside the community center right before the party.”
“About what?”
“A missing diamond bracelet. Geraldine was convinced that Maddie had taken it. Maddie, of course, swore she hadn’t.” Arlene made a face.
“I tried to get the truth out of her later.”
When he’d caught the two of them behind the center.
“I told her I wouldn’t have a thief in my family. I threatened to tell Bo.”
“Did you?” he asked.
Arlene glanced back down the hall. “I couldn’t keep something like that from him. He’s my son. You probably heard they had a huge fight later. Bo hasn’t said whether or not they’d broken up for good, but he’s been in his room ever since except for meals.”
“He doesn’t have a job?”
She looked indignant. “He helps his father run this place when his father needs him.”
Nick nodded. The kid seldom helped out. A mama’s boy. “Can you tell me where you were when Geraldine collapsed?” Nick asked.
Arlene frowned. “I was outside with you.”
“I believe you’d returned to the center. Someone saw you at the dessert table with your daughters.”
“Then why did you ask me?” Arlene snapped. “I can’t remember. It was all so traumatic. My son’s engagement party of all places for her to die.” She shook her head as though she couldn’t believe Geraldine’s gall.
“Do you have any idea what Geraldine might have eaten just before she collapsed?”
“How should I know what she ate?”
“Someone saw your daughters pass down the last macaroon possibly to you,” he said.
“Me?” She shook her head.
“Don’t you like macaroons?”
“I love them, but I was waiting for Laci to refill the plate. I didn’t want that old stale one. I was glad when Geraldine took it.” She sniffed as if there were a bad smell in the air. “Frankly, Laci has a lot to learn about baking. Macaroons should be moist, not wet, slightly rounded and never have almond flavoring in them.”
“What makes you think the cookie had almond flavoring in it?”
She smiled pitying. “You’re new here. You don’t know that I am considered the best cook in the county.” She motioned to a glassed-in cabinet that he hadn’t noticed. It was full of blue ribbons.
“I know my cooking,” she said with a nod. “Anyway, I smelled almond flavoring as Geraldine took it.”
