Cozy Suburbs Mystery Box Set

by Lisa B. Thomas

  “But how did the knife get in the box in the first place?” Estelle asked.

  Irene knocked lightly then pushed the door open with her foot. She set the tea tray on the coffee table and left without saying a word.

  Deena looked at Estelle to see her reaction to Irene’s rebuff. “I thought you two were like sisters now.”

  Estelle shook her head. “She’s probably upset because I wouldn’t let her sit in on our conversation. I just don’t trust her not to spread our dirty laundry all through the Maycroft grapevine.”

  “Okay, back to the knife. I think Marie put it there, and here’s why.” She proceeded to describe the incident at the flea market. Estelle’s face flushed as the details unfolded. Deena told her how remorseful Marie had seemed and how she had agreed to confess the day after the funeral. “Sandra and I both thought it would be better not to upset you with this matter right now.”

  Estelle walked over to the door and set Clover down in the foyer. “I can’t believe Marie would actually steal from us. It’s such a betrayal. Also, I can’t believe you would have kept this a secret. You must think I’m a spineless jellyfish.”

  “Not at all.” Deena looked at Russell for back up but got the same cold stare.

  “I want to talk to Marie,” Estelle said.

  Russell leaned forward and picked up the bell on the side of the tea tray and gave it a good shake. “She’d better have a good excuse because stealing is no laughing matter.”

  Irene came to the door.

  “Irene,” Estelle said, “could you ask Marie to come here?”

  She closed the door without answering.

  “She had better not get too big for her britches. I’m still her employer.”

  Deena felt stuck. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything about Marie. She thought she was helping, but now she felt like a conspirator in crime. She wasn’t used to Russell being upset with her. Why did she even open her big mouth?

  Marie stood in the doorway looking like she was facing the electric chair.

  “Come in, please,” Estelle said. “I understand you have something to tell me.”

  Marie looked at Deena and her face turned ashen.

  Deena felt an inch tall.

  “I’m so sorry, Miss Estelle! I should never have stolen from your mother. There were just so many things in that closet. I will pay you back every penny. Please don’t fire me, please!” She dropped to her knees and folded her hands as if pleading for her life in front of the executioner. Tears flowed down her face.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake. Get up off the floor!” She motioned for Marie to sit in the empty chair next to her. “Now tell me the truth. When did all this stealing begin?”

  Pulling a tissue out of her pocket to wipe her eyes, Marie answered, keeping her head down. “Two years ago when Freddy lost his job. The baby was just a year old, and we couldn’t pay our bills.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask for a loan? I’m sure Mother or Mrs. Smathers would have helped you out.”

  “Oh, no. Freddy would have been furious. He said, ‘We aren’t beggars.’”

  Estelle seemed unmoved. “Well, does he know you’re a thief?” The sobs grew louder.

  Bless her heart, Deena thought. That was harsh.

  “I know, I know,” she cried. “I clean houses five, sometimes six days a week. I sell things at the flea market. I even babysit for my neighbor on Sundays. Freddy spends too much money at the bar and betting on games. I just want to be able to take care of my children.”

  Estelle’s face softened. Marie’s story painted a picture of life very different from her own. “Mother kept that door to the storage closet locked. Only she and Irene had a key. How were you able to get into it to take things out?”

  Again, Marie lowered her head. “I found the key.”

  She said it so softly, Deena was not sure she heard right.

  “You found the key? Where?” Estelle asked.

  “Mrs. Fitzhugh hid it in her sitting room. I found it.”

  “Show me,” Estelle said and stood up.

  They all followed Marie up the stairs to the middle room. She opened the door and flipped on a light. One wall had a built-in bookcase. Marie picked up a small Roseville vase filled with white silk roses. Taking out the flowers, she turned the vase upside down, and a key fell in her hand.

  “However did you find that?” Estelle asked.

  “Actually, I accidently knocked it onto the floor when I was dusting. It broke and the key fell out.” She turned it around to reveal a repair. “I glued it and it’s good as new,” she added quickly.

  Deena’s heart sank as she looked at the beautiful blue vase. That color in the pine cone design was highly prized by collectors. She decided it would be best not to point out that Marie had ruined a five-hundred dollar vase.

  Estelle took the key and turned it over in her hands. “Let’s look in there together.” She led the group back into the hall. The storage “closet” was actually a small room next to Carolyn’s. Estelle unlocked the door and flipped the switch to turn on the overhead light.

  Deena gasped as though stumbling upon an Egyptian tomb filled with the king’s treasures. Antique furniture, pottery, glassware, china, paintings, sculptures, and more filled the room. “Wow! I’ve never seen a collection like this.”

  “A collection? This is just junk we don’t use anymore or couldn’t find a place for,” Estelle said. “Most of these smaller items were gifts.”

  Picking up a rare piece of Newcomb Pottery, Deena was overwhelmed by the treasure trove before her.

  “Close your mouth, Sis,” Russell teased. “You’re drooling all over the merchandise.”

  Deena could see how easy it was for Marie to take a couple of pieces here and there without their being missed. Drunk with envy, she wandered through the maze trying to drink in as much as she could.

  “Is this you?” Russell asked, picking up an oil painting in a gold frame leaning against a shelf. It was of a young girl in a frilly dress.

  “Yes,” Estelle said. “Mother had me sit for that portrait when I was sixteen. I’ve always hated it.”

  “I didn’t know that was you,” Marie said. “I tried to sell it. Nobody wanted it, so I brought it back.”

  Russell snickered and Marie lowered her head.

  Estelle put her hands on her hips and glared at Russell.

  “I think it’s beautiful, really,” he said, trying to make-up for his blunder.

  Estelle couldn’t hold back a laugh. “It really is awful. Have you ever seen so many ruffles on a collar before? I look like I’ve fallen into a cupcake.”

  Russell held it up for Deena who could only shake her head.

  “Since you think it’s ‘beautiful,’ I am giving it to you to hang in your bedroom. That way I can be the last thing you see every night before you fall asleep.” Estelle leaned over to kiss Russell’s cheek.

  “Looks like I’ll be sleeping with one eye open,” he said, and gave a mock shiver.

  They walked out into the hall and Estelle locked the door behind them. “Hey, you forgot your picture,” she said to Russell.

  “We’ll just keep it in there for safe keeping, for now. I would hate for it to release any evil spirits.”

  Estelle grimaced and put her arm through his as they started toward the stairway.

  Deena took a deep breath as she prepared to open another can of worms. She felt it was time to confront Marie about the missing knife. “Um...Estelle, isn’t there something else we need to ask Marie?”

  Estelle turned around, looking confused.

  Deena motioned back toward Carolyn’s sitting room. “Is this the room where the boxes of coats were kept?”

  Estelle nodded and led the group back into the room. “That’s right,” she said. “You hid the butcher knife up here in one of the coat boxes.”

  “What knife?” Marie asked.

  “The missing knife from the kitchen.”

  “You mean the one Chef J
ack lost?”

  “Chef Jacques,” Estelle repeated with a French accent.

  “Whatever. We all called him Jack back in high school. Anyway, I didn’t take his knife. Do you think I stole it?” Her anxiety seemed to rise along with the pitch of her voice.

  Russell shoved his hands into his pockets. “Now, come on. You’ve already confessed to stealing. That was the hard part. Now own up to what you did with the knife.”

  “I swear to you, I did not take that knife.” She crossed her heart with her hand.

  “But it was here,” Estelle said, walking over to the balcony door and pointing to an empty spot on the floor. “It was found in a box that was sitting right here.”

  “It wasn’t me. Maybe it was someone else working in the kitchen that night. It was a madhouse.”

  Estelle looked over at Deena who shrugged her shoulders. “Finish your chores. We’ll talk about this again later.”

  Marie nodded, and hurried away.

  “What do you think?” Estelle asked, sitting down on the small sofa.

  “I think she may have been telling the truth,” Deena said. “I just don’t know.”

  Russell nodded. “Why would she lie about that when she already confessed to stealing?”

  Estelle picked up an embroidered sofa pillow and pounded it into shape. “You’re right. Maybe one of the other staff took it. I should probably tell Wendy what we think in case it turns out to be one of the chef’s staff.”

  “I can call her for you if you’d like,” Deena offered.

  “She’s coordinating the reception tomorrow at the church. You could probably just tell her then.”

  “Is this your mother and father’s wedding picture?” Deena asked, spying a framed photograph on the wall.

  “Yes. Aren’t they a beautiful couple?” She stared at the picture and a few tears trickled down her face. She turned to Russell. “I wish you could have met my father. He would have liked you.”

  Not wanting to interrupt another lovey-dovey moment, Deena walked over to browse the books displayed on the tall shelves. It seemed she had been forgiven for keeping the Marie incident a secret.

  They stepped out of the room, and Estelle shut the door behind them. Sitting at the end of the hall at the top of the grand staircase was Clover, licking her paw.

  “You know, it’s funny how Mother loved to hide things, even her cat,” Estelle said. “Many times Clover would be sitting next to her in the wheelchair hidden under her big shawl, and no one would ever know. Clover was there at the party.”

  “Really? So that explains it!” Deena felt vindicated. “That’s why I sneezed on your mother.”

  Clover let out a soulful meow, and Estelle walked down the hall to pick her up. “Poor kitty, you miss her, too. Is that what you are trying to say?” She put her face on the cat’s soft fur and stroked her back.

  A strange picture suddenly flashed through Deena’s mind. She saw Carolyn turning around in her wheelchair. A wheel catching the edge of the step. Her falling backwards. And Clover. Clover leaping off her lap and landing exactly where she sat now. Was someone else there? Someone with a knife?

  Without realizing it, she let out a loud gasp.

  “What is it? Are you okay?” Russell put his hand on her back to steady her.

  “I’m...I’m fine. I was just picturing...”

  “I know,” Estelle said, still holding the cat. “I’ve done it a dozen times. I want to believe it was an accident. I truly do.” She looked at Russell. “But with my uncle and Marie and that stupid knife—I just don’t know who to trust anymore.”

  Rubbing her nose to stifle a sneeze, Deena felt a cold chill and a sense of foreboding came over her. Was it the mention of evil spirits? Was it Clover’s mournful cry? Maybe she had just read one too many Stephen King novels. Regardless, she couldn’t help but feel the book was not yet closed on this mystery.

  Chapter 19

  Funerals are always unsettling. People come together to celebrate a life while also saying goodbye. It is hard to do both at once. A heart broken has trouble finding a voice to cheer instead of cry. We lift up our heads to the sky while we bury our hearts under the ground. A life lived. A life lost.

  “Russell is here,” Gary called to Deena from the living room. “Hurry up or we’ll be late.”

  “Where are those blasted shoes?” Her favorite black Ferragamo heels would be perfect with her long wool skirt and herringbone sweater.

  Gary walked in to see her crawling around her walk-in closet searching behind boxes and bags. “Did you hear me? Russell’s here.”

  She sat back and let out a deep breath. “I can’t find my shoes.” She was close to tears and her hair was a mess.

  He reached out his hand to help her up.

  “You fix your hair, and I’ll look.” He took off his suit jacket and knelt down on the floor, digging around like a gopher. “Are you sure you didn’t donate them last summer with all those other shoes?”

  “Uh-oh,” she said sheepishly. “I think maybe I did.”

  Gary crawled backwards out of the closet, and Deena gave him an apologetic smile.

  “While you’re down there, would you grab my black pumps?”

  On his third try, he held up the correct pair of shoes.

  “I’m ready,” she teased. “I’m tired of waiting on you.”

  Russell was wearing the same suit he’d worn to the Christmas party and looked just as uncomfortable. “I hate funerals,” he said as Gary and Deena walked in from the bedroom.

  “Everyone does.” Deena straightened his tie. “Except morticians. Are you going to be sitting with us or with Estelle?”

  “With you guys. Estelle doesn’t want everyone gossiping about us before she has a chance to talk to Blake. I offered to stay home—”

  “You didn’t.” Deena picked up her purse and glanced in the entryway mirror.

  Gary opened the door to the garage. “Let’s get going or we’ll miss the whole thing.”

  Russell chuckled. “That’d be okay by me.”

  The First Baptist Church was on the other side of Maycroft, which was still only about a fifteen-minute drive. The parking lot was packed. They found a spot down the road at the Presbyterian Church.

  “I’m freezing,” Deena said. A cold wind blew in her face. She pulled her black shawl tighter around her.

  Gary put his arm across her shoulders. “Why didn’t you just wear your jacket?”

  “Seriously? Everyone in Maycroft is in there,” she said. “I don’t want to look like a country bumpkin.”

  Russell straggled along behind them.

  They climbed the steps and heard the organ bellowing out a hymn. Deena quickly signed the guest book, and they entered the sanctuary.

  Penelope and Edwin Burrows were in one of the back pews and waved them over.

  Deena scooted in next to her to serve as a buffer for Gary and Russell.

  “Looks like I’m not the only one who likes to arrive fashionably late,” Penelope whispered, blowing bourbon in Deena’s face.

  “Couldn’t find my shoes.” She looked around to see several other Bluebonnets, all decked out in full bloom, waving to her. Didn’t realize I was one of them now, she thought. They must have another service project coming up.

  Russell craned his neck to see Estelle.

  “There,” Deena said, pointing to the family section on the side of the sanctuary. She heard him release his breath as the choir rose to sing a hymn.

  Penelope leaned over just as the second verse of Amazing Grace was ending. “I thought your brother would be sitting with Estelle.”

  Deena shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to explain.

  Penelope giggled. “I’ll bet this won’t be the last time we see the two of them in a church together.”

  The preacher chimed in. “Amen.”

  AFTER THE SERVICE, the small family group filed out to attend a private graveside burial. The pastor invited the guests to the fellowship hall for a recept
ion. He said the family would join them shortly.

  “Last in, first out,” Penelope said a little too loudly. “I’ll see you inside.” She and Edwin slipped past them in the pew. Deena watched as Penelope put her hand on both men’s shoulders to “steady” herself.

  “Did she really just cop a feel?” Deena whispered to Gary.

  He stifled a laugh.

  Over her shoulder, Deena spied Wendy swimming upstream against the crowd.

  “Deena! I need you.”

  “What is it?”

  “When Estelle was leaving just now, she remembered a special picture of her mother and father she wanted to set out with the others. She said to ask if you would mind running to her house to get it. She said you would know right where it was.”

  “Sure. We’ll take care of it.” Wendy slipped back into the crowd headed to the reception area.

  As they were about to get up, Cliff sat down at the other end of their row and scooted over to join them. “Hey, guys. Beautiful service.”

  Russell put his hand on Cliff’s shoulder. “Glad to see you, man. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Yeah, well, I thought it was finally time to meet this girlfriend of yours.”

  “I can’t imagine ever going to a funeral if I didn’t have to,” Russell said, shaking his head.

  “You were there for me when we buried Gail, although I can barely remember it. I wanted to be here for you. And, hey, I brought something that will cheer you up. I’ve got a couple of cold ones in the back of the truck. Why don’t we sneak out the back and relax a few minutes until Estelle gets back.”

  “I would, but—”

  “You go ahead,” Deena said. “Gary and I can run to the house. You’re in good hands with Cliff.” As they stood to leave, she looked back at Cliff and mouthed the words “thank you.”

  Gary and Deena headed out the front door. Some of the guests were driving away, but it seemed most had stayed for the reception. Deena always had trouble keeping up with Gary’s long stride. Soon they were back in the car with the heater on full blast.

  “Will we be able to get into the house?” Gary asked as he headed east on Main Street.

  “I’m sure someone stayed behind. Irene was with the family. Maybe Marie is there.”