by Lea Chan
“Uh, sir, from a legal aspect I don’t think any of that matters.”
“Hell, I know, but there’s a lot of legal stuff that ain’t fair. Miss Audrey’s had a rough time, losing her sister and nephew and all. Can’t figure out why Miz Agnes didn’t leave her the jewelry in the first place.”
“Well, Miss Audrey’s got it now.”
“What made Lester give it to her?”
“According to Ole Man Robeson, who got the info from Mark, it seems that Lester don’t think they’re worth anything and so he said to Miss Audrey something like ‘What do I want them doodawdles for? You take them and prance around in them’.”
Donovan laughed. “Oh, that Lester Henley is a case.”
“Yeah, but Ole Man Robeson said Mark was really upset about Lester giving away the jewelry.”
“Why the hell should he care?”
“Damned if I know.”
“That’s just it, Daryl. Nothing that’s happened at Henley House should be any of Mark Robeson’s business. But he’s always there, lingering like a cancer.”
“Well yeah, especially if he killed Agnes.”
“Tell you what, let’s pay another visit to Henley House tonight. See how old Lester and Miss Audrey and Miss Penelope are getting along, maybe nudge Lester to get rid of Mark.”
“Let’s hope we don’t run into another corpse.”
“Or Mark’s oar-doves.”
That evening as they drove to Henley House, Metson commented, “Well, at least the weather’s better than it was the last time we came out here.”
“Yeah, that was the damnedest thing, Daryl, how the weather was that night. There weren’t no rain to speak of, just all that lightning and thunder. Like a spirit or some such thing was trying to warn us.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“Naw,” laughed Donovan, “but sometimes there are things that happen that make you wonder.”
Mark opened the door to the two officers.
“Evening, Mark, or are you still Marcel?”
“No, Chief Donovan, that little game is long over.”
“Damn glad to hear it,” he growled, “can we come in?”
“Of course, sir. Mr. Henley is in the library if you wish to speak to him.”
“That’ll be fine.”
Donovan and Metson followed Mark to the library where they found Lester watching TV and drinking beer.
“How you getting along, Lester?” asked Donovan.
Lester arose from his chair and shook hands with the officers then turned off the TV. He was unshaven and had bags under his eyes.
“It’s hard, gentlemen, it’s hard. Losing my wife and now my boy.” He started to sob.
“There now, you just set back down and try not to think about them.”
“Oh, but you don’t know how much I miss Kevin,” he wailed.
“Well, we’re real sorry about all your misfortunes.” He glanced around the room. “Where are Miss Audrey and Miss Penelope?”
“Audrey’s gone to New York. Says she’s going to auction off her Aunt Hilda’s jewelry.”
“What the hell?”
“Yeah, fat lot of good it’ll do her. Them doodawdles looked like nothing but paste to me. The way she and Bernie carried on about that stuff you’d a thought they belonged to the Queen of England.”
“But Miss Audrey thinks they’re worth something?”
“Yeah, but when she finds out different she’ll come crawling back here.”
“And where’s Miss Penelope?”
“She got herself a little apartment. Moved out today.”
“How she going to pay for it? Don’t tell me she really is Aunt Hazel. My wife said she was.”
“Well, of course. Everybody knew except Agnes. But that don’t pay nothing. She got a job with Shirley Gates.”
“You mean Miz Henley’s old job?”
“Nope, that’s been discontinued. Penny’s going to be Shirley’s production assistant on her TV show.”
“How did she get that job?”
“Shirley came over the other night to offer condolences about Kevin. Penny and I got to telling her about-uh-Agnes and things she had done to Penny in the past.”
“You mean done for Miss Penelope.”
Lester eyed Donovan skeptically. “Well, not exactly. Anyhow, Penny and Shirley hit it off real good and Shirley offered her the job. It’s the happiest I’ve seen Penny in years.”
“So, it’s just you and Mark living here?” Donovan knew he was going to have to tread carefully in discussing Mark.
“Yeah, but his dad’s going to move in, too. Got plenty of room now.”
“You know this place isn’t legally yours until after the trial ends and the estate is settled.”
“You throwing me out?”
“Hell no, Lester, as far as I’m concerned it’s yours but I’d keep a low profile if I was you. Miz Bernadette’s lawyer might intervene especially if they find out you gave away that jewelry. Speaking of which, I heard tell Mark was upset about that. You know why?”
Lester gave Donovan a surprised look. “Naw, just gossip. None of Mark’s business anyhow.”
“Seems like Mark makes an awful lot of what’s going on around here his business.”
“Huh? What makes you say a thing like that?”
“Lester, I don’t like mentioning this because I ain’t got proof and I don’t want to upset you anymore. But well we, Metson and me, think Agnes’ death wasn’t an accident.”
“Hell yes it was. Didn’t you hear Bernie’s confession? Kevin accidentally killed his mama.”
“We don’t think so. We think Mark did it.”
“Hell, ain’t no way he did it. On the day Agnes died, Penny saw Mark leave first then maybe a half hour later she saw Kevin tear out. He’s the only one what could’ve done it.” He wasn’t about to inform Donovan that for a while Penny had been under suspicion.
“What the hell?” Donovan was astounded and dismayed. “Why didn’t she say so? That’s obstruction of justice!”
“Penny couldn’t put two and two together. She didn’t know that what she saw was important until Bernie killed Kevin. There’s been an awful lot of consternation around here, I can tell you.”
“Shee-it!” exclaimed Donovan, using an expression that had been almost obliterated from his vocabulary by his vigilant wife.
“So Mark’s innocent?” asked Metson as they drove away.
“I can’t believe it. I still don’t understand what he was doing there in the first place.”
“Just playing a joke on Miz Agnes.”
“But why? On that dear lady? And why stay on?”
“He was still sweet on Miz Bernadette.”
“Maybe, but he’s still there.”
“I guess Lester likes his cooking.”
Donovan shuddered as he remembered Mark’s “oar-doves”.
“You know,” said Donovan after a few moments of heavy thinking, “ole Lester didn’t seem to be too upset about his boy killing Miz Agnes.”
“He thinks it was an accident and, besides, I guess society folks don’t react the way us normal folks do.”
“Are you crazy, Daryl?” sputtered the Chief. “Lester Henley ain’t no more society than you and me.”
“Oh yeah, right. Say, Chief, how could Miss Penelope know when Mark and Kevin left? She was supposed to be downtown.”
“Gawdamn, you’re right. What’s the matter with those people, defending Mark? And Kevin was already eating when Mark saw him at the deli.”
“Yeah, but Mark said he had been shopping first so I guess Kevin had plenty of time to get to the deli before Mark.”
“I don’t know, Daryl, there’s something there that’s wrong about Mark. I’m telling you, it always comes back to him, acting like an uppity butler hovering around in the background. He just don’t belong there.” Disappointed and disillusioned that he couldn’t prove Mark’s guilt, Donovan wasn’t about to let go of his
pet theory that Mark had something to do with the death of Agnes.
“What it comes back to,” stated Metson, “is that Lester likes Mark’s cooking.”
“Well, I ain’t buying it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“You got a visitor, Miz Henley,” said the guard as he unlocked Bernie’s cell and led her to the visitor’s room. She sat down and faced a very nervous and anxious Mark.
“What are you doing here?” she cried angrily, “I ain’t said nothing about you and I won’t.”
“Gawddam, Bernie, why’d you have to go and kill Kevin? Killing people wasn’t part of the plan. Living at Henley House and getting Miz Agnes to pay you to leave Kevin. That was the plan. How could you have messed up so much? And I got to know, Bernie, one way or the other, did you kill Miz Agnes?”
“No, gawdammit! Why would I?” she hissed, eyes darting around the room to see if the guard was listening. He stood stoically beside the door, seemingly oblivious to the tense scene that was playing before him. “I did not kill her. I didn’t! I even took a lie detector test and passed it.”
“Yeah, but you always were a good little liar.”
Considering this a compliment she relaxed a little and smiled, “Well, I didn’t kill her. Kevin killed his mama.”
“I know everybody believes that now, but why? Why would Kevin Henley, the apple of his mama’s eye, kill her?”
“He didn’t mean to. He was upset with her because he had found her will and his adoption papers and knew she could give him a lot more money.”
“Kevin was adopted?” Mark was astonished.
“Yeah. But the real reason he flipped out and did what he did was because she said I had to go. He didn’t know the plants would kill her. He wanted to make her sick so I could care for her and then she would change her mind about me.”
“But after Agnes died, why didn’t you wait and ask for a divorce? Damn!” He pounded his fist on the table that separated them. “You could have gotten a huge settlement!”
“Because when he was confessing to having killed his mama, he turned to me and said, ‘Bernie, if you was to ever leave me, I’d kill you, too, and make it look like an accident. I love you that much.’ His eyes was burning and, I tell you, he scared the shit out of me. What if he ever found out about you and me? I knew then that he’d kill both of us. I mean, if he could kill his mama even accidental-like, then he could sure kill us.”
“Oh lordy, Bernie.”
“I was fair scared to death, but I kept calm, I tell you. I went over to that little refrigerator that we have in our room, damn I love that house. Anyways, there was only one beer in it and I wanted a drink real bad so I said, ‘Honey, let’s share this beer, save going downstairs for another, make a toast to our life together’ and he grinned and said, ‘Sure, baby, and then you can give me some of that sugar of yours.’ Well, I can tell you, I wasn’t in no mood for sugar after what he’d just said to me. On top of the bar was them sedatives that he’d been pretending to take since his mama died. Gawd, what an act he’d been putting on. Every one of us thought he was truly in mourning and all the time he was the one that killed her. Though I do think he was surprised when he found out what he had really done. Anyways, I remembered something that Miss Audrey had told me and I dropped two sedatives in his beer. He was getting the bed ready for-uh-sugar and didn’t see me stirring like crazy to dissolve them tablets. Then I gave him his beer, we clinked glasses, said cheers, and drank. He passed out real quick and I grabbed a pillow and smothered him.”
Mark was stunned. “But-but what did Audrey have to do with any of this?”
“She told me how Miz Agnes might’ve killed her aunt by giving her sedatives and then smothering her.”
“What? Are you crazy? Miz Agnes was a leading charitable citizen of this town. She wasn’t no murderer.”
“Well, that’s what Audrey said. You can ask her. I think Lester and Penny knew all about it, too, leastways Lester. Penny don’t seem too bright to me.”
“I can’t believe that. But damn, Bernie, you didn’t have to kill Kevin. You should’ve come to me. I would’ve worked out something.”
“You weren’t there and I didn’t want to sleep with him no more. I was scared.”
“Gawd, I thought you liked Kevin. I mean, I know you love me but we had a plan that we worked out years ago, ever since the night that Death on the Nile was on TV. I planned and planned so we could get enough of the Briar fortune to live a good life. I cultivated Kevin’s friendship, introduced you to him, got you to dare me to pose as a chef for Miz Agnes. Kevin really loved you, and I knew he’d treat you right.”
“But wasn’t you jealous?”
“We’ve been over that a hundred times, honey. We had to get some of that fortune and both of us had to get along with Kevin. Hell, I kind of liked the guy. But killing him? No, just marry him, divorce him, take his money.”
“Well, I glanced at Death on the Nile a while back and there was killing in it.”
“We weren’t following the plot of that book or the movie. It just gave me an idea on how to get Miz Agnes’ money. That lady would have paid a fortune to get rid of you. How did you figure to get away with killing him?”
“I-I guess I thought that everybody would think he had a heart attack or something. I mean Miz Agnes got away with killing her aunt.”
“Her aunt was an old lady, if that story’s true and I still don’t believe it. And Kevin was too young and healthy for heart problems. Besides, you can’t fool autopsies nowadays.”
“I-I didn’t know that,” she said in a small voice. “I mean look at Miz Agnes. She died from an accident. It was Kevin’s accident but nobody knew from the autopsy what he had done. And if those cops hadn’t showed up when they did, then maybe everybody would have said Kevin had overdosed. You know, suicide. But Mark, my lawyer says he thinks we can beat this thing. He thinks I’ll be a quitter or something like that.”
“Acquitted. How in the hell can he do that? Donovan and Metson got you dead to rights and you even confessed.”
“I don’t know but my lawyer says I’m going to get off.”
“Honey, I pray and hope so. I promise I’ll stay by your side during the whole trial.”
“No!” she shouted, and then lowered her voice as she saw the guard glance her way. “You stay away until I get out. I don’t want nobody accusing you of anything. Donovan’s crazy to pin something on you. I can’t imagine why but he’s after you.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’ve always gotten on well with the old fart.”
“No, I’m telling you. He’s always asking about you, making out like you had something to do with Miz Agnes. But you’re innocent and, when I get out and inherit Henley House, then we’ll get married and live happily ever after.”
“Oh, Bernie sweetheart, you’re just dreaming. Henley House will go to Lester.”
“No, no. My lawyer says if I go free, then as Kevin’s widow I’ll inherit. He’ll see to it.”
Not wanting to dampen her spirit, Mark sadly kissed her good-bye and promised to stay away during the trial.
He returned to his car where he sat and pondered his and Bernie’s miserable fate. Their plan had fallen apart when Agnes died. They both had thought that Lester would inherit and, since he liked Bernie, he couldn’t be conned into paying her to get out of the family. And Bernie had seemed to like being Mrs. Kevin Henley, the new lady of the house. Mark had stayed on, hoping to find a way that Bernie could divorce Kevin and get at least some of the money. Then the will was read and Kevin inherited and Bernie flipped out.
“Oh, the little fool”, he sobbed. “Why couldn’t she have waited to consult me? Kevin would never have killed her. He loved her too much, just like I do. Now, there’s no way she’ll be acquitted or inherit the Briar fortune.”
He drove back to Magnolia Creek wishing that he could come up with another plan, one that would at least free Bernie. He knew they would never again have a chance at the Briar-H
enley fortune but none of that was as important as Bernie’s freedom.
“Metson, get in here!” shouted Donovan as he slammed the phone down.
“Yeah, Chief, what is it?” Metson walked into the chief’s office and calmly sat down, patiently waiting to hear whatever bit of news that had agitated Donovan now.
“The police chief over at Connor’s Corner just called. Guess who’s been to visit Miz Bernadette?”
“Who?”
“Mark Robeson,” he smiled, pleased with himself and feeling vindicated by his suspicions.
“So? We figured he was sweet on her.”
“It’s more than that. They had a real long, little cozy confab.”
“Was it taped?”
“Hell no! That damn police chief seems to have morals but, from what the guard says, they was huddling and conspiring.”
“Seems a little late for that now.”
“Damn right but I knew all along that Mark Robeson was behind all this killing.”
Metson shrugged and walked over to the window. The Chief had a one-track mind and he was tired of it. If Miz Bernadette didn’t implicate Mark in any way then he doubted if they could do so. It seemed to him that it was understandable that Mark would visit her in jail and nothing to really get suspicious about.
Changing the subject, he said nonchalantly, “You know, some of them rocks in the creek look like bodies floating. You ever notice them?”
“Yeah, of course. They been there forever and I was thinking about them the other day.” Actually he had been thinking just as much about Paradise Burgers as rock bodies but Metson didn’t have to know about that.
“Hey, you got a new chair, haven’t you? It looks comfy.” Anything to keep him from talking about Mark Robeson, he thought.
“Yeah, you like it? I can move about with ease, read reports, type on the computer, and just sit and think, real comfortable-like.”
