“Where did you actually meet Mark?”
“He’s on the board of Queen’s Town School and I’m on the PTA. There was a cocktail party at the school last weekend. Normally he doesn’t go to them, but this time he did. I introduced myself to him as an old friend of Emma’s. We got talking, and the rest is history.”
Four-day old history.
“It must have been strange for you when Emma married one of the wealthiest men on the island. One moment you were at each other’s houses for playdates and the next she was moving to Edward Heights. Life isn’t fair sometimes.”
“I could have accepted it more if she hadn’t been such a bitch about it. I mean, I get it. Life happens. Some people get lucky and others don’t. But if you do happen to strike it rich, don’t ignore all the people you used to know along the way.”
“Is that what Emma did – she ignored you?”
“That’s exactly what she did. Our kids used to be friends. Proper friends. I’ve lost track of how many times her boys slept over at my house. But the moment she got engaged to Mark, she would walk right past me at the supermarket without a blink of recognition. And not just me either. Everyone who knew her from before Mark said the same. Once she got in with the Eggers and their set, she was suddenly too good for us.”
“It must have been a shock to hear that she had died.”
“Oh, it was! I couldn’t believe my eyes. She seemed indestructible. It was like hearing that Satan had died. You didn’t think it was an option.”
“How did you hear?” asked Eulalie.
“One of the PTA moms texted me late at night. She had just seen it on PWIN. They already had a camera crew at the house.”
“I’m sure the police asked you this as well, but where were you at nine o’clock on the night she died?”
“I was at a fund-raising meeting for the PTA. We were discussing the final details of our float-building day for the Prince William’s Day parade. Our meeting ended at nine.”
“Right.” Eulalie made a note on her notepad. “And when did you start thinking that Mark Egger was someone you might like to introduce yourself to?”
The woman stood up and jangled her keys against her leg. It was unmistakably a dismissal.
“It didn’t enter my head until I saw him at the cocktail party. We hit it off so well - so instantly - that it was like we were soul mates. You can think that I’m angling to take over Emma’s role if you like, but it’s not true. Mark and I are in love. It’s all coming together just the way it was always meant to.”
“And the two dead wives don’t bother you?”
“What do you mean?”
“One dead wife is a tragedy, Mrs. Zane. Two are a pattern.”
Sarah pulled open the front door and nodded in dismissal. “Good day, Ms. Park.”
Eulalie needed to speak to her client. She had put it off as long as possible in order to have all the evidence at her fingertips. He couldn’t accuse her of ignoring his instructions or not doing his job. She had devoted days to tracking down an outside intruder and was more convinced than ever that the attack on Emma had come from inside the house.
She would frame it as an interview with the person who knew Emma the best. He could provide insights into her habits and activities that no one else could. She could also propose it as a feedback session in which she would report on her progress, so he could see what value he was getting for his money. Or rather for Eggerton’s money. She had no doubt her fee was being paid by the company.
Eulalie also needed to speak to Mark’s brothers. They were the last missing pieces in the puzzle.
She was reaching for her phone to ask Mrs. Belfast to set up the interviews, when it began to ring.
“I just got an anonymous phone-call!” Mrs. Belfast sounded breathless with excitement.
“From a telemarketer?”
“No, listen. Someone phoned here a minute ago. They were trying to disguise their voice. I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. It was electronically distorted. It might even have been a recorded message because the voice didn’t reply to any of the questions I asked.”
“Can you remember what it said?”
“I used my shorthand to write the whole thing down word for word.”
“Mrs. Belfast, you are a marvel. What did it say?”
“It said, and I’m quoting exactly, ‘Tell her to come to the old warehouse at Pier 19 if she wants to find out more about the murder of Emma Egger. Eight o’clock tonight. Don’t be late.’ And that was it - the whole message.”
“How very film noir of them. Did the voice have an accent?”
“No. Like I said, it was electronically distorted. It could have been anyone. You’re not actually going to go to that place, are you?”
Eulalie laughed. “Why not? Does it sound like a trap to you?”
“It definitely does. At least take Chief Macgregor with you.”
“We’ll see. Don’t worry, Mrs. B. I can take care of myself. In the meantime, please could you phone Eggerton headquarters and try to set up back-to-back interviews with Joe Egger, Richard Egger, and Mark Egger. I’ll be at Sweet as Flowers if you need me.”
The breakfast rush was over when Eulalie got to the coffeeshop. There were still some patrons lingering over their coffee with their laptops open, but most of the tables had been cleared. Fleur was serving a group of women who were choosing gifts for overseas visitors.
“These are sugar-crystal hourglasses with cinnamon sugar on the inside for the sand.” She turned the hourglass upside down. “It really works, as you can see, but the whole thing is edible. We also have these sugar-crystal liqueur bottles filled with real sugarcane liqueur. When you bite into the bottles, the liqueur runs into your mouth.”
“Ooh, I like those,” said one of the women. “I bet my sister will too.” She took out her wallet. “I’ll take two boxes of the liqueur bottles, please.”
“And I’ll take a box of the little hourglasses,” said another woman.
While Fleur made the sale, Eulalie set the coffee machine going for a flat white for each of them. When the women left with their gift-wrapped purchases, Fleur sat down at the bar counter and lifted her feet onto a stool in front of her. She reached for her coffee.
“That’s better. I’ve been on my feet all morning. I must bring some more of those liqueur bottles from the storeroom. They’re flying off the shelves.”
“Any progress finding a good designer for your packaging?”
“I have a couple of leads. It was a good idea to go to the hotel giftshops and see what their packaging looks like and who did it for them. I’ll find a good designer, even if they’re based off-island. How’s the investigation going?”
“My secretary got an anonymous phone-call today. I’m supposed to go to an abandoned warehouse on Pier 19 to find out something about Emma’s murder. It’s all very cloak and dagger.”
Fleur’s eyebrows rose. “I suppose it’s a foregone conclusion that you’ll be going?”
“Of course. This is the best lead I’ve had in days.”
“At least promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I’m always careful. Besides, I’ll be coming in from the roof. They won’t expect that.”
“Unless it’s someone who knows you, in which case they’d expect nothing less.”
“Either way, they’ll find me harder to catch than they think.”
Fleur set her coffee cup down. “Eulalie, don’t get cocky. You’re not faster than a speeding bullet. If you go in over-confident you’re liable to get killed. Remember what happened when we were at college? You went into a situation that you weren’t fully prepared for and there were consequences.”
“You’re right. I know you are. And I’m not bullet-proof - I know that too. I will make sure that I’m properly prepared for this confrontation, whatever it might be.”
“I’d feel so much better if you had someone with you. Someone like Chief Macgregor, for example.”
; “My secretary said the same thing. You guys really think I need a big strong man to protect me, don’t you?”
Fleur rolled her eyes. “It’s not that. It’s just that you and he have become close lately and he happens to be the chief of police. He’s the obvious person to think of.”
“Unless he has learned to climb gutters and jump off rooves in the last few hours, he won’t be much good to me. Let’s say that if I haven’t texted you by nine o’clock tonight you have my full permission to tell the chief where I am and what I’m doing?”
Fleur knew she would have to be content with that.
The efficient Mrs. Belfast booked lunchtime appointments for Eulalie with all three of the Egger brothers. Eulalie was asked to report to the executive dining room at Eggerton headquarters. Each brother could give her twenty minutes over lunch and would then have to return to work.
Eulalie took her Vespa out on the Coast Road past Edward Heights and towards the light industrial estate that was home to Eggerton and several of the other industries that kept Prince William Island solvent.
Eggerton consisted of a sprawling office park, with a factory behind it. The factory had been upgraded to comply with top-of-the-line industry standards in environmental conservation, so there was no belching of smoke or dumping of effluent into the water supply. Everything was clean and neat and quiet.
Eulalie announced herself at reception and was escorted up to the executive dining room. Her first appointment was with Joe Egger, and she found him sitting at a table for two with a plate of macaroni and cheese in front of him. He hospitably offered to order some for her, but she declined. There was too much of her grandmother in her to enjoy that kind of starchy comfort food.
“Ask away!” He waved his fork in the air. “Was it Professor Plum in the library with a candlestick? Ask and you shall find out.”
One thing that had struck Eulalie consistently since the beginning of this investigation was the lack of any real grief on the part of the Egger family for the passing of Emma. Presumably her children were sad that she was gone, but that was all. The fact that Joe saw it as a laughing matter barely a week after his sister-in-law’s death was typical of the family attitude. If nothing else, it revealed Emma’s extraordinary ability to make herself unpopular.
“You don’t sound distraught about your sister-in-law’s murder, Mr. Egger.”
“What can I say? I barely knew her. I’m sorry for my brother and her children, of course, but that’s all. She was a copper-plated bitch. Good riddance. I’m not going to pretend to be devastated when I’m not.”
“And yet you donated fifty-thousand dollars to the Church of the Blessed Redeeming Savior in her name. That doesn’t seem to add up.”
“It would if you knew my wife. She would have given me no peace if I hadn’t made that donation. Happy wife, happy life. Have you heard that expression? It’s how I run my life.”
“Where were you on the night Emma was murdered?”
“I was at dinner with my family, followed by coffee and brandy. I was sitting in the blue drawing room listening to my father drone on about all the marvelous treasures that had been in the Switzerland house before Emma decided to throw them on the bonfire. If you want to know who really hated Emma, look no further than my father. He never forgave her for the changes she made to that house. She threw away all the keepsakes we had to remind us of our mother. It was a shock to see it looking as though my mother had never set foot in there.”
“Why do you think Mark let Emma do that? He must have known it would upset your father.”
“Mark does as he’s told when there’s a strong woman involved. I suppose I do too. It runs in the family. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”
Chapter 21
Eulalie suspected that the tendency of the Egger men to do as they were told was at the root of their problems. It was strange that men who relied so completely on the guidance of women should have devised a system to keep women excluded from the family fortune. But perhaps that was why they had done it. They knew their wives would be able to talk them into anything, so they used the law to put the family money out of the women’s reach.
She was so curious to know if she was right that she put the question to Richard Egger when it was his turn to be interviewed. He also ordered the mac and cheese.
“Whose idea was it to set up the Egger trust in such a way that only men could ever run the company or inherit the bulk of the fortune?”
Richard looked startled. “Who told you that?”
“Your lawyer, Manfred Anheim. Mark gave me permission to speak to him.”
“Did he indeed? I wonder why.”
“Emma was carrying a baby at the time of her death – a baby that might well have turned out to be a boy. Boy babies get to have a share in the Egger pie. Girl babies don’t. It’s a clear motive.”
“In this family we don’t split up the pie,” said Richard. “We keep it whole for future generations.”
“That’s almost exactly what your lawyer told me, but there are many who might not see it that way. So, I’m asking again. Whose idea was it to set up the trust like that?”
Richard consumed a mouthful of mac and cheese. When he spoke, it was to say the last thing Eulalie was expecting.
“It was my mother’s idea. She said that the four of us – my father, Joe, Mark, and me – were too malleable. This was when we were still teenagers. I think she liked the fact that she could boss us around, but she didn’t like the idea of other women being able to do so. She said we should protect ourselves from female interference by placing the bulk of the Egger fortune out of the reach of our wives forever.”
“And what about your daughters?”
“They are well cared for. They will all get a sum of money when they turn twenty-one. But they won’t be Eggers forever. They will marry and join other families. My mother didn’t want Eggerton to be parceled out and divided for future generations. She wanted it kept intact for as long as possible.”
Eulalie took a sip from a bottle of water she had brought with her. “Are you telling me you didn’t see Emma’s baby as a possible threat to your own son’s ascendancy at Eggerton?”
“Of course not. We’ve been through a bunch of pregnancies in this family – nine, to be exact. Each one could have been a boy. Do you really think I turned murderous every time one of my sisters-in-law became pregnant?”
“What about your wife? Was she as phlegmatic about it as you?”
He looked away for a moment. “It was hard for Jane. I’ll admit that because it’s true. I think it would have been easier if Emma had been someone she liked. She enjoys her status as mother of the only boy, but if you think that’s enough to make her into a murderer then I really don’t think much of your investigative abilities.”
“Where were you while Emma was being murdered, Mr. Egger?”
“I was in the blue drawing room talking to my father.”
“Your father was quite the center of attention that night. So far, you, Jane, and Joe have all claimed to have been talking to him. And he’s the one person in the room who can’t say for sure who was there and who wasn’t.”
Richard dabbed his lips with a napkin. “That’s all true. I guess that makes your life more difficult, doesn’t it?”
“You want to know whether I killed my wife?”
Demurrals rose to Eulalie’s lips, but she realized that was what Mark wanted. He was trying to throw her off balance.
“Well?” she said. “Did you?”
“I most certainly did not. All I’ve ever wanted is a stable home life, so I can get on with the business of attracting new clients. I was damn unlucky with Mary. She should still be right here where she belonged. Supposedly it was a freak accident, but I still think the doctors messed up somehow. It was a routine operation for varicose veins. How the hell do you cock that up? Mary and I were supposed to grow old together. We were supposed to watch our girls grow up and to enjoy our grandchildren
. She should never have died. And yes, when she did, I’ll admit that I was desperate to replace her. I wanted my old life back. I know my family didn’t like Emma, but they weren’t all that keen on Mary either. They were both difficult women. People must learn to get along.”
“How did you feel when you found out that Emma was pregnant? I happen to know that the two of you had agreed not to have any more children.”
He shrugged and sipped his coffee. “Stuff happens. I knew Emma had done it on purpose. She wanted to be sure of me, and she thought that having a child together was the only way to seal the deal. She was wrong. The Egger men mate for life. I was never going to leave her, no matter how much my family complained. I can’t say I was pleased about the pregnancy, but I accepted it.”
“Why weren’t you pleased, though?” Eulalie asked. “This was your chance to have a son. Emma was convinced it was a boy. Your own child could have gone on to run Eggerton along with Otto.”
“That was never an issue for me. We had Otto and that was all we needed. The thing with pregnancy is that it changes women. Emma was going to travel with me when I started my big push to bring in new clients. As soon as there’s a rug-rat in the picture, that plan goes out the window. I wanted someone to be a companion to me for the next thirty or forty years, not a nursemaid to a baby. Hell, I’m over fifty. Emma was forty-one. What sort of age is that to bring a baby into the world?”
“You must have been angry with her.”
“To be honest, I was kind of expecting it. Emma had a will of iron. I knew she wanted a baby, and I knew she was more than capable of making it happen. I just hoped she’d forget about it after a while.”
“Where were you when she died, Mr. Egger?” Please don’t say you were in the blue drawing room talking to your father.”
“But I was!” he insisted. “That’s exactly where I was. I was sitting next to Jane. I’m sure she remembers.”
“I just wish everyone could agree on what they remember.”
Eulalie thanked her client for his time and said that she must be getting back to town. He commented on the fact that she had missed lunch and offered her a takeaway container of macaroni and cheese.
The Eulalie Park Mysteries Box Set 1 Page 40
