Murder in Georgia

by Agnes Alexander

  Nicole didn’t answer. Lita had answered the phone.

  Connor walked toward his office.

  “So, where are you going for lunch, dear?” Lita asked after Nicole explained she wouldn’t be home.

  “I don’t know. Connor is taking me to lunch.”

  “Oh, I see.” There was a strange tone in Lita’s voice.

  “Is something wrong with that?’

  “No, Nicole. Not at all. He must like you a lot because Connor doesn’t take many women out.”

  Before Nicole could ask why, Connor came back into the front office. “Connor’s ready to go, so I’ll see you tonight, Lita.”

  Chapter 11

  When Connor walked her to the car Nicole asked, “Aren’t we going to the café across the street?”

  “Not today.” He unlocked the car. “I thought we’d go to Adrianna’s if that’s okay with you. I enjoy their fresh pastries and their great coffee.”

  If she’d ever heard of Adrianna’s she didn’t remember it. She only smiled. “That sounds fine.”

  He held her door until she was inside then he got in the driver’s side. “I figured Elsie would pull that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “See that sports car backed into the spot near the end of the café parking? That’s her car.”

  “Does she plan on following us?”

  “Who knows? You never know what Elsie’s going to do.”

  Nicole didn’t answer. She didn’t know what to say so she busied herself looking out the window.

  Connor broke the silence. “I’m sorry, Nicole. I shouldn’t be talking about Paul’s sister-in-law. It’s just that since her last divorce and return to Macon, she’s decided she wants to spend her time with me. I’ve tried every way I know short of telling her off that I’m not interested. She went on a trip last week and I hoped she’d find someone else to spark her interest. I don’t think Elsie has outgrown her high school years. She still thinks if she is coy enough she can have any man she wants.” He chuckled. “Not that I think she wants me. She doesn’t. She only sees me as a challenge.”

  Nicole looked at him then glanced away. She couldn’t imagine any woman not wanting this desirable man, and she didn’t want him to guess her thoughts. “Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe she’s really interested in you.”

  He shook his head. “Not Elsie. The woman collects men like some women collect figurines. She’s not yet thirty and she’s already had three husbands.” He frowned. “Or is it four? I’m not really sure.”

  “Are you kidding? Three or four husbands. My goodness.” Nicole couldn’t help smiling.

  “It is a feat for a woman her age, isn’t it? Another thing she does every time she gets a divorce is come back to Macon and starts using her maiden name again. I don’t want her to get it in her head that Cottingham is going to be number...whatever it is.” He looked in the rear view mirror. “Well, she gave up. She followed us a while then turned at the last light we passed.”

  “Good. I don’t want to get caught between you and some irate woman who thinks I’m getting in the way of her landing her next husband.”

  Connor didn’t answer. He was busy pulling into a parking place near Adrianna’s Café and Bistro.

  After being seated and served, Connor said, “Let me thank you again, for not giving me a hard time about using you to get out of lunch with Elsie.”

  Nicole put the specialty sandwich she’d been eating down on the plate and looked at him. “If you’ll always pick out a place as good as this to make your apologies, you can use me anytime you want to get away from Elsie. There’s no way you could have known, but I think after today Italian is one of my favorite cuisines.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. I promise not to over use you, and I’m glad you like Adrianna’s. I like it too. It has become one of my favorite lunch places.”

  “I can understand why.” She bit into the sandwich again.

  They were having a fresh pastry tart and a cup of gourmet coffee when he asked, “Have you ever been married, Nicole?”

  She almost choked on a swallow of coffee, but recovered. She didn’t know how to answer him, so she simply shook her head.

  He said, “I was married right out of college. It lasted for eight years and we had three wonderful children.”

  When he said no more she asked softly, “What happened?”

  He looked at her with pain-filled eyes. “I lost all four of them in an automobile accident.”

  “Oh, Connor, I’m so sorry. It must have been hell for you.”

  He nodded and dropped his head. “It still is.”

  Again she whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

  For a minute neither spoke. Then Connor looked up and his face was almost expressionless. “How did you like the pastry?’

  “Like everything else here, it was delicious.” She wanted to lighten the mood a little so she added, “I’ll have to get Elsie’s number so I can ask her to come bug you again. Maybe that way I’ll get another lunch at this place.”

  He laughed. “If she keeps bugging me, we may have to take drastic steps. I may have to tell her we have more than a working relationship. That might even rate dinner.”

  She knew he was only joking, but she was glad he was coming out of his melancholy mood. “In that case, bring it on.”

  He smiled and ordered another cup of coffee before going back to work.

  * * * *

  Lita was surprised when she opened the door and two well-dressed police officers showed her their badges.

  “Mrs. Mancini?” The female asked.

  “Yes,” Lita said. “What have I done?”

  The man smiled. “You haven’t done anything which we are aware of, Mrs. Mancini. We only want to ask you a few questions.”

  The woman added, “We understand you’re a friend of Mrs. Dora Hildebrand.”

  “That’s right.” Lita stood aside. “Won’t you come in? My knees won’t let me stand very long at one time and I need to go where there are chairs.”

  They followed her into the living room and took the seats she indicated.

  “Please forgive me,” she said. “I didn’t catch your names. Would you please tell me again?”

  “I’m William Milo and this is my partner, Trudy Collins.”

  “Thank you. I’ll try to remember this time.” Lita took a seat in one of the wing-back chairs. “Now, tell me how I can help you fine officers.”

  “Tell us about your relationship with Dora Hildebrand,” the woman said.

  “Dora and I have been friends and neighbors for years. Now that we’ve lost our mates we spend more time than ever with each other. We play cards, go to the garden club meetings, and often we go to lunch just to have something to do.” Lita laughed. “We do that more in the winter because Dora spends most of her spare time in her flowers in the other seasons.”

  He nodded. “I understand you have a boarder, Mrs. Mancini.”

  “Yes. Nicole Lynch.”

  “Has Ms. Lynch been boarding with you long?”

  “A couple of weeks. Why?”

  He ignored her question. “Does Ms. Lynch go out a lot at night?”

  “She never goes out at night.”

  “Isn’t that unusual for a young woman?” Officer Collins asked.

  “Just between you and me,” Lita leaned close to the woman, “Nicole is getting over a broken heart. She’s not ready to start going out. She goes to work, comes home and either plays cards with me or goes to her room to read or watch TV, or whatever else she does.”

  William Milo changed the subject. “Does Ms. Lynch always walk to and from work?”

  “Yes. She says she likes to get the exercise. It’s only a few blocks and she says she enjoys the walk.”

  “Does she always come home for lunch?”

  “Most of the time.”

  “Why didn’t she come home today?”

  “Because she called and said her boss was taking her to lunch.”

  He
changed the subject again. “When was the last time you saw Dora Hildebrand?”

  “I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday last week. She came over for coffee and the three of us played gin. Dora won.”

  Trudy Collins interjected, “How well did Ms. Lynch know Mrs. Hildebrand?”

  “Not very well. She would stop and talk with Dora when she was on her way to work. It was a morning ritual for them.”

  “Did she ever visit in Mrs. Hildebrand’s house?”

  “She’d only see her in the morning as far as I know.” Lita frowned. “She did walk Dora home the night we played cards. She said she didn’t want Dora going home alone.”

  The policeman’s eye shot up. “Did she go inside that night?”

  “I don’t think she could have. She wasn’t gone long enough.”

  “So you’re sure she never went inside that night?”

  Lita nodded. “She did say when she started back up the street a noise in the bushes frightened her.”

  “Oh?”

  “It turned out to be a big cat. She said it ran out and went to the house next door.”

  “Can you describe this cat, Mrs. Mancini?”

  “No. I didn’t see it. You’ll have to ask Nicole.”

  He made a note. “Getting back to her coming home for lunch. Was there a time when Ms. Lynch came home for lunch when you were out?”

  “A couple of times.”

  “Then how do you know she came home?”

  “By the sticky kitchen floor.”

  “What do you mean?” He looked puzzled.

  “When I came home, my soft sole shoes almost stuck to the floor. I found most of the orange juice from a new carton was missing. Nicole had tried to clean it up, but she hadn’t used soap and water. The sticky was still there.” She shook her head and laughed. “She is a lovely girl, but I’m afraid she’s a bit clumsy.”

  “Was this the day Mrs. Hildebrand was attacked?”

  “No. It was earlier. It was the day I had a doctor’s appointment.”

  “How about the day Mrs. Hildebrand was hurt. Were you home during the lunch hour?”

  “No. I had my hair done that day, but Nicole came home. This time she spilled soup on her blouse. She got the floor pretty clean this time, but she left her blouse in the bathroom and I had to work hard to get the tomato stains out.”

  “Are you sure they were tomato stains?”

  “Of course, I’m sure. There were even little pieces of vegetables floating in the sink where she’d left the blouse to soak.”

  “Do you do Ms. Lynch’s laundry?”

  “Not always, but that day I went in to put fresh towels in her bathroom and saw the blouse soaking in the sink. I knew she’d never get it clean so I took it to wash myself.”

  He stood and the female officer followed his lead. “Thank you, Mrs. Mancini. You’ve cleared up some questions for us.”

  “I hope so. If you have others, come ask me.”

  “Thank you,” Trudy Collins said as they stood.

  “I’ll see you to the door.”

  As the officers went down the walk, Lita overheard their conversation.

  Trudy Collins said, “Well, it doesn’t look like Nicole Lynch is our perpetrator does it?”

  “No, it doesn’t. But somebody is sure going to a lot of trouble to make us think she is. I wonder why?”

  Chapter 12

  The rest of the week was fairly quiet. Martin returned from Savannah with plans to return in a week or so. Nicole and Lita didn’t get to go through any of her husband’s old files on the weekend because Lita came down with a cold and didn’t feel like it. Nicole took advantage of Lita’s extensive library and spent a lot of time in her room reading. Dora Hildebrand’s condition hadn’t changed. She was still in a coma and couldn’t have visitors with the exception of her daughter. Things between Nicole and Connor hadn’t changed. They were both friendly and nice, but avoided personal contact as much as possible. Nicole she knew in her state of limbo she didn’t have the right to let anything more than friendship happen between them.

  It was almost closing time the following Friday when the phone rang. Nicole gave her usual greeting, “Good afternoon, Cottingham Insurance Agency.”

  “May I speak to Martin Cottingham, please?”

  “He isn’t in. May I take a message or could someone else help you?”

  “I’m not sure. This is Janice Hildebrand. I want to check on my mother’s life insurance policy.”

  “Connor Cottingham is here. Would you like to speak to him, Janice?”

  “Couldn’t you just tell me how much life insurance she has, Nicole?”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’m sure Mr. Cottingham will be able to help you.”

  “Let me speak to him then.”

  Nicole buzzed Connor’s desk. When she had switched the call to him she wondered why Janice was checking on her mother’s life insurance policy. Had Dora died?

  “No,” Nicole muttered aloud. “I won’t think that. I’m keeping positive thoughts that Dora will get well and come home soon.”

  She watched the phone and as soon as the light on line two went off, she picked up the receipts and the money she had for policy payments and went down the hall. She knocked lightly on Connor’s door. “May I come in?”

  “Of course.” He swiveled his chair around to face her. “Have a seat.”

  She took the straight burgundy leather chair in front of his desk. “Here are the receipts and the money I had in my desk.”

  “Thank you.” He took them. When she continued to sit in silence he asked, “Did you need something else?”

  “I don’t mean to be nosy, but Janice told me she was checking on her mother’s life insurance. Dora hasn’t died, has she?”

  “No, but things look grave. They’re talking about taking her off life support.”

  “Oh no.” Nicole’s eyes filled with tears. “I hope they don’t do that.”

  “Sometimes that’s a decision you have to make, though it’s always a tough one.” He noticed the tears and got out of his chair. He walked around the desk and stood beside her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blunt.”

  She snuffed. “Do you have any tissues?”

  “Here.” He took a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.

  “Thanks.” She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cry, but I’ve grown fond of Dora Hildebrand. We talked every morning she was out and she came to play gin with Lita and me one night.”

  Connor hesitated then reached down and put a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe she’ll pull through.”

  Nicole leaned her head against his arm. “I hope so, Connor. I really hope so.”

  The telephone rang and she reached for the one on his desk. “Do you mind if I answer it here?”

  “Go ahead.”

  After she answered there was a slight pause then she said, “Just a minute, Elsie, let me check.” She looked at Connor and he shook his head. To Elsie, she said. “I’m in the back and I heard someone go out the door a while ago. I’ll buzz him and see if he’s still here.”

  “Thank you,” he whispered when she put the phone on hold.

  She nodded and smiled at him. Into the phone she said. “He isn’t answering. Could I tell him you called?” After another slight pause she said. “I’m sure he will.”

  She hung up the phone and turned to Connor. “She’s going to call you on your cell because she’s sure you’ll want to hear what she has planned for you tonight.”

  “I don’t want to hear any such thing.” He rolled his eyes as his cell began to ring. He shook his head and started to answer it.

  “Wait,” Nicole said. “Let me handle this.”

  He relinquished his phone and she held it until it rang three more times. She then flipped it open. “Connor Cottingham’s cell phone. Nicole speaking.... No, Elsie. I heard it ringing and came into his office. I found it on his desk. He must have taken it out to make a
call earlier and left it here.... I know; men are awfully forgetful sometimes.... Yes, I’m sure.... Why don’t you try his home phone? No...I’m going to leave it here on his desk. He might come back for it.... Of course, I’ll leave him a note.... Goodbye.”

  “Boy, you’re good.” Connor smiled at her.

  “Thank you, boss man. I just try to earn my money.”

  “Speaking of which, we haven’t given you a check yet. Make sure I don’t forget to write you one. We usually pay on the first and the fifteenth. Is that okay with you? I’ll go ahead and write you one today if you want me to.”

  “Waiting until the first is fine with me.” She stood. “Thanks for the hanky. I’ll wash it and get it back to you.”

  “Keep it. You might need it again.”

  “I hope I didn’t give you the impression I cry a lot, because I don’t. I just had an overwhelming feeling of sadness about Mrs. Hildebrand. Maybe it was because I thought it was heartless of Janice to call about life insurance when her mother is still alive.”

  “I thought the same thing, especially when she wanted to know who the beneficiaries were on the policy. She seemed pleased to know it was she and her brother. She asked me twice to double check it.”

  Nicole frowned. “You’d think she’d know that.”

  “I agree, especially since her father is dead.”

  The phone rang again and Nicole picked it up. Before she could get the greeting out, Elsie said, “You lied to me! I came by and Connor’s car’s in the parking lot. I’m coming in there.” She slammed the phone down.

  Nicole turned to Connor. “Quick. Elsie is on her way in. If you want to avoid her, put your phone on the desk.”

  He did as he was told.

  She picked up a legal pad. “Write quickly. Something like, gone with a friend. Will pick up my car later, and sign it.”

  He wrote then handed her back the legal pad. “Thanks. I’ll go to Dad’s office. Nobody goes in there. I’ll lock the door.” He scooted down the hall.

  The front door opened as Nicole came back into the front office.

  “Where is he? How dare you tell me he isn’t here?”

  “He’s not here unless he came in while I was in the bathroom.”