by Vikki Walton
“I’ll tell you later, but it’s a doozy.”
After everyone ate, Anne and Carson walked to the back room. He turned to her. “I know why you did what you did. We don’t need to talk about it. Smart thinking.”
He walked ahead of her into the room. Smart thinking? Had he not felt that shock of electricity that she’d felt? Maybe he was right. It was the excitement of being caught. That’s what it was. Nothing more.
Liz joined them in the office and as she sat down, she made a sign of a zipper across her lips. “Your secret is my secret.”
“Um, thanks,” Anne said. “As you can imagine, we’re trying to keep our relationship on the down-low.”
Anne wanted to jump right to the big question of how long Liz had been sleeping with Dr. Nelson, but Carson took charge.
“From what we’ve gathered thus far, you are the one who suggested the girls’ getaway. Is this correct?”
“Yes.” She turned her entire body toward him and smiled charmingly.
“Did you invite Taylor and Lil to join you and the Nelsons?”
“I invited Taylor. She must have thought it was a good idea to have Lil join us.”
“What about Dr. Nelson?”
Liz smiled coyly, and in that moment, Anne realized that they’d been had. The woman had manipulated them to view the email. How could she let Carson know? Was Liz trying to point the blame to Beth?
“Beth wanted him to come. But he was the one to decide to come and go skiing while we had our workshop.” She shrugged and feigned innocence.
I’ll bet that’s why he came. Anne tried to hide her frustration at not being able to ask about their affair.
“How would you say the Nelsons’ marriage is?” Anne hoped that was safe ground.
“Interesting,” Liz replied.
Carson spoke, “Can you share with us about when you arrived and up to this point?”
She sat back in the chair and crossed her legs.
“Certainly. I’ll try to remember.” She took a moment and patted her finger against her lip. “Let’s see. We arrived just a bit before Taylor and Lil. That really set Beth off when she saw Lil.” She sighed. “To be honest, it doesn’t take much to set her off.” She sighed again. “But I’m used to it. We’ve been best friends since college.”
“Beth wanted to leave?”
“Absolutely. She did not want to be here with ‘that woman’ for one minute.” She sat back in the chair and steepled her fingers.
“And by ‘that woman’?”
“Lil, of course. Sweet, innocent Lil.” She stopped. “Of course, everyone loves her. She’s one of those people you just want to hate because they’re so nice.” She smirked. “Not me, of course.”
“So, everyone liked Lil?”
“Especially Edward. He had the hots for her big-time in college. Then he switched gears and went with Beth.”
Anne asked, “We heard he was a big ladies’ man. Did you ever date him?”
“Date him in college? Oh, no. Too many cats chasing after that mouse.” She grinned.
The Cheshire Cat has nothing on that smile.
“Let’s get back to the day of Dr. Nelson’s death. Can you tell me what transpired that day?” asked Carson.
Liz turned to face him, again she steepled her fingers and tapped her lips. “Let’s see. We got up that morning and went for the walk. Beth was furious when she told me she’d seen Lil talking with Edward. I think with Lil’s husband having passed away, it made Beth concerned.”
“Why? Hadn’t Dr. Nelson stopped the relationship in college?” Anne inquired.
“From what I understand, it was a mutual understanding to go their separate ways.”
Anne wondered what the true story was—he’d left her, she’d left him, or it had been mutual?
“Beth wanted to leave right away after Lil first came but I talked her out of it. I believe Beth even went and talked with Lil that evening. Lil told Beth that there was nothing between her and Edward after all these years.”
That made sense as to the significant switch in Beth’s attitude the following morning. Anne jotted down a note on the paper about it.
“Go on,” Carson responded.
“Let’s see.” Liz paused, and her eyes looked toward the ceiling. After gathering her thoughts, she said, “We had the workshop. Then Taylor said Eddie—Edward, was still out in the gazebo. Beth decided to go out and check on him, so I said I’d go with her.”
“Any reason for that?” Anne inquired.
Liz stared at Anne. “No.” She turned back to Carson and continued, “I needed some air and I figured I’d walk with Beth. We reached Edward. I knew something was wrong. I ran back up to the house to get help.”
“Did Beth tell you to go get help?”
She thought for a minute. “Yes, I think she waved me away, saying, ‘Go. Go!’”
“Those were her exact words—‘Go’?”
“I believe so.” She picked at some unseen lint on her sweater.
“After that, I ran back to be with Beth. I tried to hug her, but she pushed me away.”
That was different than what they had heard from Beth, that Liz had pushed her.
“What about the vape pen?”
“The vape pen?” She turned toward Anne.
“Yes. If you could say where it was?”
“Oh, yes, I see. Beth stepped on Edward’s vape pen. She detested his smoking. She wouldn’t let him do anything, really. He was always trying to appease her to no avail.” She rested her hands on the chair arms. “I heard it break so I bent down and picked it up. She told me to give it to her and I did. You know the rest.”
“Okay.” Carson nodded. “Now what about the time after Dr. Nelson’s death and leading up to the misfortune in the dining room?”
“That was a strange afternoon. Marie screamed a ghost had attacked her. To be honest, it creeped me out a bit as I’d been hearing footsteps, but when I’d go look no one was in the hall.”
Anne spoke up. “Did you ever go look on the back staircase?”
“I opened the door, but I didn’t go down the stairs. Just on the landing.” She stopped for a moment, then continued. “Oh wait, I think I did start to go down the steps but then decided against going down that way.”
“The door wasn’t locked then?”
Liz looked at her. “I couldn’t have gone in if the door didn’t open.”
Carson shifted his stance. “Did you see anything on the landing or stairs?”
“Like what?” Liz turned toward him.
“Anything,” he replied.
“Can’t say if I did.”
“Okay,” Anne answered. “Let’s return to your argument with Beth.”
Liz turned back toward Anne. “Beth and I got into a bit of a row because she wanted me to update our flights. How am I supposed to know how long we’d be stuck here? I don’t know why she wants to leave so badly. I know she needs to tell Jake and make arrangements but she, well, to be honest she said some nasty things to me.” She looked down toward her lap and clenched her hands together. “She doesn’t seem herself lately.”
“Maybe because she found out you’d been sleeping with her husband?” Crud. Anne realized her gaffe as soon as it left her lips. Carson shot her a look of disgust. She’d be paying for it now.
Liz looked up and stared at Anne who couldn’t determine what was revealed on Liz’s face. She definitely knew what it wasn’t—shame.
“Okay, you caught me.” She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders as if it was a minor indiscretion. “Yes, we’d been having an affair. Jake is out of the house and Ed wanted to leave Beth. He was going to ask her for a divorce.” Liz stopped. “You don’t think . . . no, Beth wouldn’t do that.” She wrung her hands and looked down towards her lap.
The implied message was clear. Had Beth killed Edward before he could divorce her and leave her with nothing?
“We’re not inferring anything. We’re just conducting interviews.”<
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Liz turned to Anne. “I know what you’re thinking. ‘What kind of a friend am I?’ We didn’t mean it to happen. It just did. I still love Beth and I’m sorry to have hurt her. I know she’s going to hate me when it comes out. That’s why I wanted this weekend. To remind myself that things could heal between us. I’m hoping she didn’t have anything to do with Ed’s death . . . or Marie’s.” She shook her head. “Maybe she meant to kill him and me too for what we’d done.” She pushed her face into her hands.
Anne swallowed. She didn’t like what Liz had done but she sounded sincere about caring for Beth and had certainly showed it while she was there.
Carson pulled the note from a binder and showed it to Liz. “Do you recognize this?”
“That’s horrible.” She shook her head.
“Have you seen this note before?”
“No. But I’d recognize that handwriting anywhere. It’s Beth’s.”
Carson put the note back on the desk. “Okay, thanks.
“Are we finished here?” Liz tilted her head.
“Yes.” He stood up and opened the door for her.
As she went through the door she turned and smiled up at him, “Just for the record, I deny killing anyone.”
Chapter Seventeen
After Liz had left, Anne spun toward Carson. “Whoa. What do you think of her story? This keeps getting weirder and weirder. It has to be Beth.”
He crossed his arms across his substantial chest. “What makes you say that?”
Anne rose and started counting with her fingers.
“First, motive. Money is a big motivator. If Edward was going to divorce her, and she had no money of her own, that’s a super strong motive.”
“I concur that she has motive.”
Anne held up two fingers. “Means. She knew he was using a vape pen, so it would be easy to put something in it that would affect his heart.”
“Agreed.”
She turned and held up three fingers. “Opportunity. She could have a ready-made alibi by being inside with us and she could have easily put something into Liz’s glass.”
“The evidence seems to point to her, but we can’t rule out anyone at this juncture,” Carson responded. “However, those are all suppositions, not fact or proof of guilt. Remember that old saying, “Innocent—”
“—Until proven guilty.” She sighed and leaned her hands on the desk. “I know, I know. We just have to find the proof.”
“We,” he pronounced strongly, “don’t have to find anything. You are in here only to assist with hearing their statements. That is all. You cannot share what you have heard with anyone or engage in any activity that could hinder this case. If you do, I will arrest you.” He stood up and lowered his chin so that his eyes stared directly into hers. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal.” Anne sighed.
“Are you sure that she’s guilty? What about the others?” he asked.
“I guess we should look at them too.”
He chuckled but said nothing.
“Yes, I know, you can’t rule out anyone at this stage,” she said.
“Even you.”
“Even me? Seriously?”
“You have the history of being around dead people—”
“Ha ha.” She crossed her arms. “You’re not funny and you’re not taking this seriously.”
“Oh, I’m very serious when it comes to crime.”
“Okay, let’s think about the others.” Anne ticked off the points on her fingers. “Liz certainly had the opportunity. But if Dr. Nelson was going to leave Beth then she wouldn’t want him dead. So, no motive. Lil could have motive with him dumping her but after all these years, it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Agreed.”
“I just can’t see Taylor hurting a fly.”
“Ahh, that’s where your personal feelings can cause problems. You have to look at everything objectively.” He reminded her.
“True. I guess she could have killed Edward to avenge Lil, but what about Marie?”
“Some good questions. Let’s switch gears. What about the means?”
“That one’s a little tricky. Taylor and Lil have the most knowledge when it comes to pharmaceutical meds that could have been used in his vape pen and in Marie’s drink. I wish we could get the toxicology reports back to know what really killed them.”
“This isn’t television. They don’t come back with results in fifteen-minute timeslots.”
“True. Plus, Edward’s death may be totally natural. He could have just had a heart attack on his own. If we consider that, then the poison could have been meant for Beth or Liz.” Anne stretched. “So that would leave Taylor and Lil.”
Carson said nothing as Anne continued.
“But what could be Taylor’s motive?” She paced the room, then paused. “On the other hand, Lil may not have gotten over Edward and that’s why she really came this weekend. Her husband’s dead and she knows Edward isn’t happy. Maybe Taylor even knew about his affair with Liz or his desire to divorce Beth. If that’s the case, then the message could have been written by Beth to Lil, but she decided against giving it to Lil and threw it in the wastebasket.”
Carson sighed, but didn’t interrupt Anne’s out loud train of thought.
“On the other hand, maybe Beth wrote the note to Liz knowing she was going to kill Edward and make Liz suffer before killing her too.”
He held up his hand with a stop motion.
“Lots of good speculation there Nancy, but in my line of work there has to be something we crazy officers of the law like to call proof.”
She huffed. “Fine.”
“Let’s go ahead and get Lil in here. After we get everyone’s statements we can start to see if any of them correlate or contradict someone else’s story.”
“I’ll get Lil. Be back in a minute.” Anne went to collect Lil.
The women were all together, yet separate, in the living room. While Taylor had plopped down in the chair, Beth had tucked herself tightly against the back of the couch and held a pillow protectively in front of her. Liz sat gazing into the fire while Lil perched on the edge of her seat, a pale bird about to take flight. Her back was straight and during the time they’d been talking with the others she’d plaited her hair into a French braid. She now wore a ruby velvet top and black pants. Anne was again impressed how striking Lil was without seeming like it took her any effort. Anne subconsciously pushed her hair back behind her ears. The pair walked back to the office.
Chapter Eighteen
“Sheriff,” Lil spoke, “I’m happy to assist with your questions. What would you like to know?” She folded her hands demurely in her lap. Her legs crossed at the ankles.
“Thank you, Dr. Ryan.”
“Lil. Please.”
He nodded his head, “If you could give us a bit of background on why you chose to come here and the happenings up to this point, it would be helpful. Let’s start with who invited you.”
“Taylor invited me. She said that Liz had been talking about us all getting together at some point. I’m not one to cast doubt on someone’s motives, but to be honest, I think Liz manipulated Taylor into inviting me.”
“How so?” Anne leaned forward.
“I don’t mean to speak ill of her, but Liz has always had the ability to get what she wants and manages to make it seem like it’s the person coming up with their own idea. I can remember some of the things that Taylor would do for Liz while they were roommates after I moved out. Liz was definitely the one behind those ideas.”
“So, you think Liz told Taylor to invite you?” Anne asked.
“Oh no, she’d never do that.” She smoothed down her slacks. “She would have gone on and on about the good old days to Taylor, when all four of us were together in college. Taylor, out of all of us, cherished those times. She missed being away from her family and as an only child, we became the sisters she’d always wanted. For better or worse.” She smiled.
Anne co
uldn’t help noticing how white Lil’s teeth were. She ran her tongue over her teeth. Maybe I should check into some whitening toothpaste. I wonder . . . her mind drifted in the silence.
Anne shook her head. Stay present. She watched as Carson waited in silence for Lil to continue.
He is definitely the most patient man. I’d be asking all kinds of questions.
“Taylor told me about this weekend at the Brandywine Inn that Liz had found online. Taylor knows I’m very interested in the flora and fauna that are used to make pharmaceuticals. For example, digitalis for heart patients, or the simple aspirin which came from willow bark. Ethnobotanical studies focus on the parts of the plant, and the best time for harvesting, preparation, application, and duration. Of course, it also includes the indications and contraindications of the plant.”
“Oh, no,” Anne yelped. “You sound like Hope. I only want to know what to take and when.”
Lil laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to slip into ‘professor’ mode. I tend to do that now more than ever.”
“You teach as well as do research?” Anne queried. Carson nodded approval at this question.
“Yes. After my husband died, I had lots of time on my hands. I’ve always wanted to learn more about plants in conjunction with my expertise in pharmaceutical drugs. I went back to school and now I’m teaching a course that combines the two areas. It’s been well received, and Taylor and Liz have both sat in on my classes.” She winked. “They’re both geeks like me when it comes to medicine.”
Anne leaned forward across the desk. “Wait. I thought you hadn’t seen Liz in years?”
“I haven’t. My course is available online as well. Taylor was taking my class in person, and I guess she told Liz about it, so Liz signed up for the online course. I have teaching assistants who grade work, so I haven’t really communicated with her directly.”
“You mentioned digitalis earlier. Is that what Dr. Nelson was probably taking for his heart?”
