“Go with him,” Zasha said, waving her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I can help Dorothy clean up here.”
Ivy shrugged and followed Mr. Hyde out into the yard. He seemed to be nervous about something and kept wringing his hands.
“You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders, Mr. Hyde. What’s going on?”
Ivy didn’t like Mr. Hyde. She hated that he had tried to fire her simply because she was a woman and had a feeling that it wasn’t his first sexist action.
“Well, you see, I probably should’ve mentioned this earlier. It’s just with the shock of everything… You see… Before Mrs. Bleeker died, she asked me to go through her assets and help her draw up a new will. It was a massive undertaking as Mrs. Bleeker had considerable assets. Since her death, I’ve been doing as she asked and going through the assets and compiling a comprehensive list.”
“I can imagine the beneficiary of the will has been putting pressure on you to get it done quickly,” Ivy said, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Mr. Hyde grumbled. “He’s been a complete pain. I keep telling him that if he left me alone, the job would get done quicker. You see, I think he’s quite eager to get out of town. I can only hold him off for so long, Ms. Morris. You need to work quicker.”
“I’m working as quickly as I can, Mr. Hyde,” Ivy protested. “This is delicate work.”
“Yes, but I think it would go quicker if you investigated the death you were hired to look into,” Mr. Hyde said, wiping his sweaty top lip with his monogrammed handkerchief. “I know the Turner murders are very tragic, but you should leave that to the police and investigate Mrs. Bleeker’s murder more thoroughly.”
“Leave what to the police?” Ivy asked incredulously. “I haven’t seen a single police officer ever since I started. How could I leave it to them if they’re not going to do their job?”
“You can investigate their murder after you’ve done this job,” Mr. Hyde insisted. “I’m nearly done with my assessment, and as it stands, Daniel Stuart is set to inherit everything. Once he has the inheritance, he could run away for good. We’ll never catch him once he’s gone.”
“I see,” Ivy said darkly, crossing her arms over her chest.
For once, she was wearing an appropriate dress. It almost reached her ankles and had sleeves that covered her arms up until her elbows. She hadn’t brought anything to wear to a funeral, so Yelena Ross had gladly lent Ivy something out of her own wardrobe. Despite her drab attire, Ivy still looked impossibly chic. She had paired the boring dress with a somber head scarf and dramatic make up.
“There’s one more thing,” Mr. Hyde said, lifting up his hat and mopping his brow. The man seemed to be dissolving in a puddle of sweat. Ivy had to take a step back to avoid the stench. “Something’s missing.”
“What do you mean?” Ivy asked with a frown. “One of her assets? How is that possible?”
“Mrs. Bleeker’s husband had a keen eye for investment,” Mr. Hyde explained. “He often invested in certain stocks, which means that Mrs. Bleeker’s portfolio is extensive and varied. It took me a while, but I finally noticed a discrepancy. A year before his death, Mr. Bleeker invested in a company called Strauss Shipping Co. I found the certificate, but the actual stock certificate is missing. I didn’t find a bill of sale, but when I called the company, they reported that the stocks were sold back in nineteen-sixteen.”
“Maybe Mrs. Bleeker sold them and forgot to report it?” Ivy said with a frown.
“No,” Mr. Hyde shook his head adamantly. “She never touched the stocks. She didn’t know how it all worked and didn’t care to know. I think someone stole them from her and sold them.”
“How much were they worth?” Ivy asked, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
“Mr. Bleeker bought about five percent of the company which was worth about a thousand dollars back then. By now, it would’ve been worth three times that much.”
“That’s a hefty sum,” Ivy said, her eyebrows skyrocketing.
“Yes,” Mr. Hyde said with a quick nod. “And I doubt that Mrs. Bleeker knew that it had been sold. Someone stole the stocks from her, and she was about to find out.”
“I see,” Ivy said with a frown. “She died before she found out, didn’t she?”
“That’s the thing,” Mr. Hyde said, gulping quickly. “The day before she died, she called me and asked to set up an appointment. She said that she found something concerning and wanted to verify something. You see, I think she found out what happened, and might have had an idea who stole from her.”
“And she was killed before she could tell you,” Ivy realized, her eyes widening.
“Yes,” Mr. Hyde said sadly. “But it gets worse. These stocks were sold before Lily came to work for Mrs. Bleeker. There was no way she was the thief, and therefore…”
“The police definitely have the wrong person in custody.”
Chapter Eighteen
It took the women a few days to find Daniel. He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth after he left the funeral, and many people thought that he might have left New Hope for good. In fact, there were quite a few who hoped that this was the case.
After Mary and Clara had been buried, people were eager to return to normal. It appeared that most people in town believed that Daniel was the killer and they hoped that the police would track him down and arrest him somewhere else. The people of New Hope didn’t want any more drama. They weren’t the type of people who wanted to be entertained by scandals. They were the type of people who wanted to get on with their business in peace. Many of them moved to New Hope to settle down and live peaceful lives with their families. Serial killers and suspicious characters belonged in the city or in lawless towns overrun by bootleggers. New Hope was a decent place populated by decent people.
The longer Zasha endured the painstaking wait, the more she realized that the events of the past few weeks had changed her. It had happened subtly, without her being aware of it. Once, the quiet atmosphere and slow days were enough for her. The more time she spent with Ivy, the more she realized that she needed something different.
Finally, they got the news that Daniel had been spotted. He was staying at Mrs. Bleeker’s house, much to the disdain of the local townspeople. There was a simmering rage beneath the surface, and Zasha suspected that if Daniel received Mrs. Bleeker’s estate, he wouldn’t be able to safely stay in New Hope.
“Let’s go,” Ivy said firmly.
The waiting had been worse on Ivy than it had been on Zasha. At least Zasha was used to New Hope’s stillness, but it seemed to get on Ivy’s nerves. She was like an anxious ball of energy, and always needed to be doing something to get rid of that energy.
Zasha had been in the process of mending some of her father’s socks when her father came in and told the women the news. She dropped everything she was busy with and hurried after Ivy, a firm determination settling in her stomach.
She missed the way her parents exchanged worried looks behind her back. Zasha didn’t know it yet, but everyone else could see what she was missing. Zasha Ross was beginning to outgrow New Hope. Ivy didn’t miss their anxious expressions though, and it caused her to hesitate for a moment. Was she doing the right thing? If Zasha changed too much, there wouldn’t be a place for her in New Hope anymore, and Ivy wondered if Zasha would ever be able to let go of her hometown. What would become of her if she stopped fitting into her familiar mold but never moved on?
By now, Ivy’s car had been fixed. It gave Zasha a thrill to casually hop into the passenger’s seat as if she were used to that sort of thing. It made her feel impossibly grown up and sophisticated.
They arrived in front of Mrs. Bleeker’s house in record time, and Zasha was the first person to jump out and knock on the front door. Her foot tapped impatiently while she waited for Daniel to open the door.
When he eventually swung the door open, Zasha was disgusted by the smell that wafted
out. It was clear that the house hadn’t been cleaned in a while and neither had he. Daniel smelled like an ashtray soaked in liquor.
“Are you here to interrogate me again?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe for support.
“When’s the last time you had a shower?” Zasha asked, her nose wrinkling in disgust.
“That’s not very nice,” Daniel scoffed. “Aren’t you supposed to be the nice one?”
“I’d be a lot nicer if you stopped lying to me,” Zasha said, pushing past him and walking into the house. “Your aunt used to love this house. Would it kill you to take care of it?”
“You can’t…” Daniel protested with a frown. His eyes were bloodshot, and it looked like he was struggling to focus on her.
“Are you going to chase us away?” Ivy asked curiously, stepping over the threshold. “No offense, but you don’t have any more right to be here than we do. And right now, public sentiment is on our side. It’s your turn to play nice.”
Daniel stared at them with a peeved expression for a few moments before shrugging and leading them to the living room. He dropped onto the nearest chair and pulled out a hip flask. He took a deep sip before offering it to them. Zasha rolled her eyes and shook her head, but Ivy grabbed the flask. After wiping it down, she took a quick sip and handed it back to him.
“What can I do for you today?” Daniel asked.
“We need to know about your relationship with Estelle Bleeker,” Ivy said firmly. “And then you can tell us why you came to town.”
“Maybe I felt homesick,” Daniel said sarcastically, lighting a cigarette.
“This isn’t your home,” Zasha sneered.
“Sweetheart,” Daniel said, giving her a long look. “Just because I’m not a favorite, doesn’t change anything. This is my home, and I have just as much right to be here as anyone else.”
“Tell us about Estelle,” Ivy urged, grabbing a wooden chair and positioning it in front of Daniel. “What was your relationship like?”
“She was my aunt, and she took me in when my parents died in a fire,” Daniel said with a sigh. “Look, I’m not the easiest person. It wasn’t her fault that I turned out the way I did. She tried her best. I’ll give her that.”
“I’m sure she must’ve been disappointed by your choices,” Ivy said slowly. “Did that put a strain on your relationship?”
“You’re coming out swinging today, aren’t you?” Daniel said with a grimace. “She did her duty with me, and that’s all it was. It wasn’t like I was her surrogate son or anything. I was her only living relative, and she took me in because it was expected of her. I’m sure she hoped things would turn out differently, but it’s not like I gave her any reason to expect better from me.”
“That’s a very reasonable view of things,” Ivy said thoughtfully. “I wonder if she felt the same way. After all, a woman like Estelle doesn’t seem like the type of person who would be satisfied with supporting a lazy relative. I wonder what happened when it became clear that you weren’t going to work, and she wasn’t going to support you.”
“What are you talking about?” Daniel asked in amusement. “She supported me financially when I was out of work. I didn’t even ask, she just sent the money.”
“That’s what you say now,” Zasha scoffed. “But maybe you’re trying to cover up the real reason you always had money.”
“What?” Daniel asked with a frown.
“Have you ever heard of a company called Strauss Shipping Co.?” Ivy asked, tilting her head slightly.
“No,” Daniel said, taking a long drag from his cigarette. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”
“Well, it should. Your aunt had stocks in the company worth upwards of a thousand dollars.”
“Good for me,” Daniel said with a shrug.
“Yes, good for you,” Ivy said, glowering at him. “I did some digging, Daniel, and it turns out that you came to New Hope in nineteen-sixteen after getting fired from your fifth job that year. You opted out of military service by claiming you were colorblind, and you needed money. Your aunt was probably sick of supporting you and told you to get lost. That’s when you stole the stocks and sold them for a tidy profit.”
“Someone sold the stocks?” Daniel asked in surprise, leaning forward in his chair. “Aunt Estelle would never do that. You’re saying that someone stole them from her. Who would do that?”
“No, Daniel,” Zasha said, rolling her eyes at him. “We’re saying that you stole the stocks.”
“Impossible,” Daniel said with an amused chuckle. “You’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“Well, what about the fact that you lied to us about seeing Mary when you got back to town?” Zasha asked in annoyance. “We found your love letters. You wrote to her a week after you got back and asked if you could meet up. She never answered. I bet that made you mad.”
“I never…” Daniel said with a frown. He looked between Zasha and Ivy before clearing his expression and shaking his head. “If you want to accuse me of murder, you’re going to need a lot more than that.”
“You’d make things a lot easier on yourself if you just came clean now,” Ivy pointed out.
“The more time we waste on you, the less time we have to spend on other suspects,” Zasha said. “If you’re not guilty, then prove it to us.”
“I can’t prove anything to you when you’ve obviously made up your mind,” Daniel said tiredly. “I keep telling you that I have nothing to do with this, but you lot seem determined to ignore me. Waste your time, it’s on your head.”
“Don’t you feel the least bit guilty?” Ivy asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Mary was your first love. She didn’t deserve to die like that. Neither did little Clara. She had her whole life ahead of her. And what about Mrs. Bleeker? She helped you out your whole life.”
“I had nothing to do with Aunt Estelle’s murder,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes. “The maid confessed to poisoning her. You people are ridiculous. There’s no possible way for me to have killed the old woman or Mary and her kid. I have an alibi for all three murders, but you keep ignoring it.”
“Yes, but you keep lying to us,” Zasha pointed out. “How can we trust anything you say?”
“I guess you can’t,” Daniel said with a shrug.
“Why did you come back to town, Daniel?” Ivy asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I had nothing better to do.”
“You want to know what I think?” Zasha asked thoughtfully.
“Not really,” Daniel sighed, “but you’re going to tell me anyway.”
“I think you heard that your aunt was reworking her will. You realized that she was going to find the missing stocks and blame you. If she found out that you stole from her, then she’d probably write you out of the will. You couldn’t let that happen, so you figured that you’d come over here and stop her by any means necessary.”
“Good theory,” Daniel said, sounding bored. “You’re just missing a crucial fact. The police already searched my things. They didn’t find any poison. Do you want to know where they found poison? In the maid’s belongings.”
“It could easily have been planted there,” Ivy said with a shrug.
“You see?” Daniel asked in frustration. “No matter what I say, you just turn it around to make me look guilty. The pieces don’t fit, but you’re doing your best to hammer them in place. The maid confessed. She killed my aunt. Why am I being punished for it?”
“That’s the thing,” Ivy said thoughtfully. “It’s becoming obvious that Lily didn’t kill Estelle.”
“Well, that’s news to me,” Daniel said. “If it wasn’t the maid, then I don’t know who it was.”
“Of course, you’d say something like that,” Zasha pointed out.
“Look, I’ll give you a hint,” Daniel said, leaning forward in his chair. “You’re asking the wrong questions. Instead of harassing me every chance you get, why don’t you think carefully? Who had enough power over the maid to get her to conf
ess to a murder that she didn’t commit?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Zasha,” a soft voice broke through Zasha’s daydream and caused her to look around. Her mother was leaning against the doorframe, looking pensive. “Can we talk?”
“Yes, Mama, what is it?”
Yelena had never asked Zasha if they could speak before, she had always just said what was on her mind. This turn of events surprised Zasha and immediately put her on guard. Would they have to deal with more bad news now?
“I wanted to talk to you about your new friend,” Yelena said, walking into the room and sitting on the foot of Zasha’s bed.
“Oh,” Zasha said with a frown. “Can we talk about this later? Ivy and I are going to talk to Vera. We’re trying to find out what made Lily confess to the murder. Did you know that Lily and Vera are related?”
“Yes, I did know,” Yelena said with a soft smile. “Don’t worry, I told your friend that I wanted to speak to you. She went ahead to the library and said she would talk to you later.”
“Now you’ve got me worried, mama,” Zasha said with a frown. “What’s going on? You’ve never been so serious before.”
“Well, you’re growing up now. I must give you the respect you deserve. After all, you’re a young woman.”
Zasha stared at her mother in bewilderment. Yelena was treating her like a stranger, and Zasha had no idea why. She could think of a few reasons why her mother would be upset. Her behavior over the past few days hadn’t been strictly in line with her character, but it didn’t look like her mother was there to give her a lecture about decorum.
“When I was about your age, I left my home,” Yelena said with a sigh, her eyes becoming distant. “I didn’t know it at that time, but I would never be able to go back and I would never see my family again.”
“Oh, Mama,” Zasha said, her eyes widening in surprise. “We’ve never spoken about this before.”
“Yes,” Yelena said, nodding quickly. “And that’s my mistake. I should’ve spoken about this more. Maybe things would’ve been different, but Zasha, it’s so difficult for me. I thought that if I didn’t speak about it, maybe I could forget about it. But now I see that maybe it’s time I told you this. It’s important, because I can see that you’re going to face a similar choice.”
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