5 Murder by Syllabub (29 page)

She raised the gun and pointed it directly at my head. It wobbled a little, maybe because of its weight. Not enough to give me hope.
But hope had arrived, and just in the nick of time. Two men stood in the doorway.

“You were right for once, Calvin
,” Lt. McMann said. “Something
is
going on here. What the hell do you people think you’re doing?” He stood next to Calvin Campbell.

It wasn’t Lt. McMann’s lucky day. Hattie got one leg free, kicked Dan with it and wheeled around, gun raised
. She fired before she even knew who it was. He spun halfway around and hit the floor with a thud. Hattie didn’t wait to see him fall. She twisted back, her gun aimed once more at its target, which was Dan. He tried to capture her flailing free foot, but it didn’t matter. I was on my feet and charging, wielding Cora Lee’s cane. The hook connected with Hattie’s neck and I pulled for all I was worth. The gun went flying. So did Hattie, and Dan was there to catch them both.

“A
ll packed?” Aunt Mary asked.

I stuffed the last pair of socks in my suitcase and tried to pull the zipper closed. “If I can get this blasted thing zipped, I will be.”

Aunt Mary walked over to the bed and pulled the sides of the suitcase closer together. “Now try.”

I tugged. The zipper resisted,
but then suddenly gave up and made its way to the other end. “That did it. It wasn’t that hard when I came.”

“You’re bringing home more than you brought.”

That was true. Dan had brought practically nothing, certainly not enough for the week he’d been here, and he’d carried it all in the smallest overnight bag we owned. We’d gone shopping, both in Colonial Williamsburg and in the shops that adjoined the historic district. Actually, I’d gone shopping. Dan had spent the week helping Noah, who had been promoted to temporary head of the homicide division. It looked as if that position would soon be permanent. Lt. McMann was still in the hospital. He’d be out soon but would take that early retirement. I felt responsible for him getting shot, but Dan said I shouldn’t. Bursting into what was a potentially dangerous situation wasn’t only stupid but poor police procedure. A mortal sin in Dan’s eyes.

Cora Lee came into the room, leaning heavily on her cane, followed by Elizabeth and Petal. “Dan and Noah are on their way. Have you got everything?”

“I think so. How about you, Aunt Mary?”

She laughed. “If I forgot anything, donate it to a church rummage sale. Chances are it came from one of ours.”

Cora Lee sat on the Windsor chair. “We’re going to miss you two.”

No little barb. No sarcasm. Aunt Mary gave her a huge smile. “We’re going to miss you, too. However, this has been a little more excitement than I’m used to. I need to go home and do calm things, like organize St. Mark’s summer rummage sale.”

“Have you heard anything about Payton?” I’d been thinking about him a lot. He was out of the hospital, but I hadn’t been able to pry out of Dan or Noah what would happen to him.

“He’s out of the hospital, but he won’t be going back to his office.”

Elizabeth examined Cora Lee with narrowed eyes. “How do you know that?”

“I have my ways.” Her little sarcastic smile was back.

“Hmm.” Aunt Mary murmured. “I’m sure you do.”

“What’s going to happen to him?” I was certain her “ways” included that information.

“Nothing good. He’s certain to be disbarred and probably will end up in jail, charged with accessory to murder and embezzlement. Using your firm’s money to pay off your blackmailer isn’t a good idea.”

“Maybe they’ll give him and Hattie adjoining cells.” Elizabeth grinned.

“Judging from the last time I saw them together, they might not enjoy that.” Aunt Mary smiled.

I laughed. Aunt Mary was right. Putting those two that close together would be punishment worse than jail.

“He must have some feelings for his mother. He paid blackmail all those years to protect her.” Ever the optimist, Mildred refused to believe a son wouldn’t have sincere affection for his mother. Hers certainly did. Hattie’s didn’t.

“
He only did it to avoid being dragged into the whole thing.” Cora Lee gave a small snort of disapproval. “He might not have cared about being a Culpepper, but he sure did about being a powerful attorney. It wouldn’t have helped his reputation one bit to have his mother in jail for theft and murder.”

“Which brings up another point.” Mildred twisted so she looked directly at me. “How did you know it was Hattie?”

“Good question,” Elizabeth said, pulling my closed suitcase off the bed, setting it on the floor and sitting in its place. “And what was all that about spoons?” Petal jumped into her lap.

“Tell them from the beginning, Ellen
,” Noah said. “Just like you explained it to me and Dan.”

Dan hadn’t been all that pleased, saying I could have gotten myself killed. Aunt Mary was more appreciative.

I smiled. “There were several things about Hattie that confused me.”

“Hattie’s had that effect on people for years.” Cora Lee’s little barbs were back. “Go on.”

“She seemed to think Elizabeth was going to sell off a lot of Smithwood’s antiques. She questioned you about it that day in the Randolph kitchen.”

Cora Lee nodded.

“It wasn’t until you told her about the school, how the plantation would be preserved and she could be a part of it that she got interested. It seemed to matter to her what happened here. I thought that strange. She had nothing to do with Smithwood. I didn’t realize Monty had promised her she could live here and keep house for him, use all the things here, when he got possession. After she found out Elizabeth was going to do something a lot more interesting, from her point of view, and had no intention of letting Monty get his hands on Smithwood, she started to change her mind. I still hadn’t made the right connections, though. It was that night at Shields, when Roger gave that little talk about sippets that it all came clear. Hattie’s family was a no-spoon family. All those beautiful things she had, and didn’t want us to see, would never have been in a home like hers and certainly weren’t heirlooms from Jerome’s side of the family. Monty stealing Smithwood treasures plus Hattie hoarding things she shouldn’t have had equaled Monty selling them to her all those years.

“I still wasn’t sure why she killed him until I remembered Noah saying Monty wanted to sell Smithwood off to developers. He wasn’t keeping it a secret, either. That was the last thing Hattie wanted. If he ended up with Smithwood, it would have ruined her chances to come back and be the expert. He stood in her way, so she removed him, and with an eighteenth
-century drink. There had to be some symbolism there, and after I understood the spoon thing, it all fit.”

“Hattie had the sugar dish from the tea set.” Aunt Mary said. “We saw it in that drawer in her house. As soon as you spread that set out and we saw the sugar dish was missing, we both knew it had to be Hattie. Ellen was ahead of me on that, but she wouldn’t have had that sugar dish if she hadn’t either killed Louis or
helped someone else do it.”

The front door slammed, male voices sounded then footsteps echoed on the staircase. Dan and Noah had arrived.

“I see you’re ready to go.” Dan nodded approvingly at our suitcase, which bulged alarmingly at the sides, and smiled.

“Aunt Mary’s ready, as well. How did it go with Hattie?”

Noah sighed. “Her attorney is tearing his hair out. She can’t seem to focus on anything but that she’s a Culpepper and everything she did was for the family name. Pathetic.”

“Ellen’s been telling us how she figured out Hattie was the murderer and why she killed Monty, but I still don’t understand why
she did it in the dining room of my house.” Elizabeth squeezed the dog so tight she yelped. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.” Petal settled back down.

Dan smiled.

Noah leaned against the wall, glanced at his watch and gestured to Dan. “Tell them.”

Dan sighed. “That woman’s a mess. I suppose you know she thought she’d get to come live here if Monty got the place.”

We all nodded.

“What Hattie didn’t know was
that Monty was blackmailing Payton, at least not until recently. When she realized Monty had some papers that might actually hurt Payton’s career, she decided she needed to help. She wasn’t about to let another Culpepper go to jail. She told Monty that if he gave her the papers he’d been using to blackmail Payton, she’d have Payton help him get clear title to Smithwood. I guess Monty thought that was a good deal, because he agreed. Only, he’d hidden them in that old chest. They decided he’d come in the old way, through the kitchen, but that he’d better disguise himself in case someone saw him. That was why he wore the Colonial outfit. Trouble was, Monty couldn’t find the chest. He neglected to tell Hattie until the night he died. They’d arranged to meet here—again, Hattie’s idea—and he’d hand them over. They’d have a little drink to celebrate. By that time, Hattie had decided he had to go. She was much happier with Elizabeth’s plan, but she needed the papers for Payton.

“
She’d already given Monty the syllabub and he’d finished it off before he told her he couldn’t find the chest. She was furious when he died. Trouble was, she couldn’t find it either. She searched after Monty died, but then Cora Lee came home. She was trapped. When the rest of you arrived and were trying to figure out what was going on, she hurried through the passageway, dropped her glass in the dishwasher and was through the cellar door before Elizabeth came back.” He paused to nod at her. “Locking the passageway door was a good idea, and if you’d done it a few minutes earlier, she would have been trapped. She came back several times, trying to find that chest. She’s the one who tipped the crate over and later hit Mildred with the shovel. She wasn’t trying to kill either of you, just avoid being discovered. She was getting pretty frantic about those papers the last few days, so she jumped at the chance when my lovely but impulsive wife called her.”

All eyes turned toward me.

“You did what?” Mildred’s eyes grew large. “Why?”

“I couldn’t think of any other way to make sure it was her. I called her and told her I’d found a tea set, but I wasn’t sure it was the Smithwood one. Hadn’t she and Virginia used it and, if so, could she identify it?”

“What did she say?”

“She claimed she didn’t know a tea set was gone, but that, yes, she and Virginia used to have tea and
had used the Smithwood set.”

Cora Lee shifted her weight from one side to the other, leaning on her cane. “Then what?
”

“I told her I wanted to pull it out and have another look. She didn’t say anything at first. Finally she asked where I found it. I hadn’t, so I crossed my fingers and said it was in the closed-up wing. I also told her I
’d found some papers with the name of Payton’s firm on them. Did she think they were important and did he want them back? Could she ask him for me?”

“Oh, boy.” Cora Lee’s eyes were bright and the chuckle full of satisfaction.

Dan wasn’t as pleased. “I still don’t understand why, if you thought she was involved in murder, you did something so foolish. You could have gotten killed. You almost did.”

“I didn’t think she’d have the nerve to kill me, or anyone. After all, she used poison on Monty. Besides, I was only fishing. It could have been Payton. For a while I even thought it might be Calvin.” I smiled at
Dan. “Is that why you came? To keep me from being killed? You must have set out before I made the connection.”

“I knew you were hot on someone’s trail and figured I’d better get out here before you ended up in a coffin. Besides, I didn’t like the sound of Lieutenant McMann. So, I started talking to Noah, and we agreed I needed to be here. Good thing, too.
”

I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of being rescued but knew I loved having him here. I’d sort all that out later. I smiled and nodded. “I hadn’t entirely ruled out Lieutenant McMann, either. So, I called him.”

Noah opened his mouth then closed it again with a snap. When he finally got words out, they sounded strangled. “You what?”

“Called Lieutenant McMann.”

Dan groaned. He looked at Noah and shook his head. “Didn’t I tell you?”

Mildred seemed caught between laughter and horror. “What did you say?”

“Nothing. I left a message that I’d found the tea set and was going to get it out of the old east wing and could prove Louis was murdered and who did it. Was he interested? I thought about telling him about the papers but didn’t. If I had, he might have been more on his guard.” I paused and gave a small sigh. “Anyway, he came. Calvin saw us go into the east wing and hung around, wondering what we were up to. Then he saw Payton and Hattie arrive and heard the shot. He was trying to call nine-one-one when McMann arrived.”

“Oh, lord.” Noah ran his hand over his short hair and studied Mary. “Leo must have just about had a stroke when he heard that one.”

“Yes.” I shook my head as if in disbelief. “I feel terrible he just burst in.”

“Don’t.” Dan let his arm slide around me and pulled me close. I didn’t even try to pull away.

“Why was Calvin here so late?” Cora Lee sounded anything but pleased. “He should have left ages before all that.”

I’d wondered the same thing. “He said he was cleaning up his equipment before he put it away.” I didn’t bother to hide my skepticism.

Cora Lee frowned. Calvin was in for a grilling.

“I’m still amazed you figured it out
,” Elizabeth said. “There were too many twists and turns in this for me.” Elizabeth put her arm around Aunt Mary and gave her a squeeze. She got a squeeze back.

There was time for only one more question. “Mildred, how did your appointment with the contractor go?”

“Wonderful. I’m going to turn that neglected old house into something beautiful, and I’m really going to enjoy teaching in Elizabeth’s history school.”

“The best part is, you won’t have to sleep on a rope bed or use a chamber pot.” Aunt Mary smiled.

“The best part is I won’t have to live with my son and daughter-in-law. They’ll start their married life in their own home, with their own deed. Thanks to Elizabeth.” Mildred smiled at Elizabeth. She got back a huge grin.