PEGGY LOOKED HIM IN THE eye. “I have friends all over Charlotte. I was driving by to visit one of them when I thought I saw smoke coming from the house. I did what any citizen would, and called 911. Better safe than sorry, that’s what I always say.”
Chief Mullis looked at her as though he wanted to call her a liar, but had no proof to base the accusation on. “You’re a very good little citizen, aren’t you, Dr. Lee?”
The commander stepped in. “We appreciate citizens like you,” he told Peggy. “I don’t see anything out here, but it would be a good idea to go through the house to be certain.”
“That’s probably what she wants,” Mullis accused. “I caught her here once before with some friends of my aunt’s.”
“I don’t think she’s going to try anything with all of us here.” The commander’s words dripped with sarcasm. “In the meantime, if something
is
wrong in there, we’re wasting time.”
“I don’t want her inside.”
“That’s up to you, Chief. I just need you to open the door so we can go inside.” The commander shrugged beneath his heavy gear. “Or we can do it the hard way and I can have my boys break in the door.”
The chief moved to unlock the door without any further prodding from the fire department. He glanced at the alarm. “I thought that was on.”
Peggy started into the house behind the commander and two of the firefighters. Chief Mullis extended an arm to keep her out of the foyer. “I don’t think they need your help. And I’d feel better if you stay out here.”
“That’s fine. I was just curious. No need to be hostile.”
He rolled his eyes. “Hostile? You don’t know the half of it. Someone from that stupid historical group has called me fifty times a day since Aunt Lois died. They’ve accused me of everything from killing her to inherit the property to purposely stealing their little historical things. Like they matter to me.”
“You
do
inherit the property, Chief,” she reminded him. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone got anxious and didn’t want to wait for their inheritance.”
“Check with my cousins, if you like. Aunt Lois was all set up to move to a retirement community on the other side of town. There wasn’t any reason for me to get impatient. If she hadn’t died, we would’ve wrapped the whole thing up by now. Ask her kids. They hate me enough because of the estate. But they can’t deny the whole thing was about to change anyway.”
Maybe it was the way he was glaring at her. Maybe it was her involvement with the police that made her feel he was telling the truth. It would be easy enough to check. “What about the jewelry you’re keeping from Lois’s children? What about the historical artifacts that belong to the group?” She was surprised he’d bothered explaining at all. He didn’t have to. “Why are you being so stubborn about giving her friends and relatives what should rightfully be theirs?”
“Not that it’s any of your business,” he rasped, “but I loved Aunt Lois. I made a mistake taking her out to the lake like that, but you notice who she turned to when she needed a ride. Her kids were never around for her. I don’t think it’ll hurt them to wonder if they’ll get anything from her now that she’s dead.”
She nodded. “And the historical society?”
“Those ladies are
crazy
. Who can believe what they say belongs to them? I want someone responsible from the museum to come out and tell me what’s supposed to be theirs.”
Unfortunately, all of that sounded reasonable to her. Part of her brain was still concentrating on finding her mother and getting her out of the house. Maybe that was why it made sense. She didn’t like the chief’s attitude, but if what he said about Lois’s children was true, she could understand the hard feelings between them.
“I really believe someone killed your aunt out at the lake.” She shook her head as he began mentioning Snook. “Not him. He’s a convenient scapegoat. But I think what happened had something to do with a carnelian ring.”
She described the ring and finding the empty box in his aunt’s purse. He listened intently without throwing out wisecracks every few seconds. “And where’s this ring right now?”
“The ME’s office gave it back to the museum. It technically has no value in the case against Snook. There were no unusual fingerprints on it. It seems harmless enough. But I think we’re missing the bigger picture that involved it and may have been what made your aunt agree to the early morning excursion to the lake.”
“You mean she was going to meet someone there and give them the ring?”
“Maybe. She definitely had the ring with her. It somehow ended up in the mud, just as she did. I think whoever met her there, someone she knew and trusted, killed her by giving her yew berries to eat.”
The chief seemed to consider her words as he sat down on the concrete step outside the front door. “It seems like you have it all worked out. How do you know it wasn’t me? I know that’s what some people are saying.”
“As far as I can tell, you have no interest in antiquities. You’re also the kind of person who would’ve jumped in the mud after the ring. Whoever did this to your aunt left it in the mud. It obviously had value to him or her. Why didn’t they go after it?”
“Like you did.” He looked up at her. “Any suspects?”
“Not yet. I’m almost too busy running out to the lake and collecting yew branches to be able to formulate any possibilities.”
“Have you considered Lois’s son or daughter?”
“No. But I suppose you could check that out and see if they have alibis for that morning. It strikes me that one of them would’ve simply taken her out there if that were the case, but anything is possible.”
The chief got to his feet as the commander and his men approached the open door. “We can’t find any sign of smoke or fire in the house,” the commander said. “I guess it’s a false alarm. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“That’s okay.” Chief Mullis shook the commander’s hand. “I got to hear a few things I needed to hear. Thanks for checking up on it.”
“Sure thing.” The commander frowned at Peggy. “I hope this isn’t something you go around doing all the time.”
“Not at all. I really thought there was an emergency situation in the house.”
The commander nodded, and left without saying anything else. Chief Mullis turned to Peggy as the fire trucks were leaving. “What’s this all about, Dr. Lee? Did you do this just to get me out here and tell me about this ring?”
“No. Actually, there’s an emergency in your house, Chief. It’s just not a fire emergency. I hope our new understanding is strong enough to weather what I have to tell you.”
Peggy explained about the ladies from the historical society. Then she explained about her mother. “As far as I know, she’s still trapped in your aunt’s bedroom closet.”
“I don’t know whether to laugh or shoot both of you and all those other crazy women.” He stared into the old house and took a deep breath. “Aunt Lois loved that group. I guess she was as crazy as the rest of them. Let’s go save your mother.”
Peggy followed him up the stairs in the huge old house. She could tell from the neglect in its care that Lois wasn’t interested in it. Chief Mullis would probably get more use from the labyrinth of parlors and bedrooms than the previous owner.
“When I was a kid and my uncle was still alive, they had big parties here.” The chief looked around the hall and touched the hand-carved banister with obvious pride. “I’d like the place to shine like that again. I still have two kids at home who’ll have a blast exploring this old place.”
He showed Peggy the large second-floor bedroom his aunt had occupied. Everything was done in a shade of rose, with roses on furniture, rugs, and drapes. The red was reflected from the light coming through the drapes into the room.
Peggy found the closet and tugged hard on the door until it opened. The space was nearly as big as many people’s whole bedroom, and loaded with clothes, blankets, and other interesting paraphernalia. She didn’t see any sign of her mother until she looked a little closer and saw size 5 feet to the left.
“Mom,” she whispered, “it’s me, Margaret. It’s safe to come out now.”
Her mother took a hesitant step forward and peeked between two large fur coats. “Is that really
you
, Margaret?”
“It’s me, Mom. Let’s go home before Dad misses you.”
“How did you do it?” Lilla wondered as she stepped out of the closet. “How did you get in to let me out?”
“He helped me.” Peggy nodded toward the chief, who was waiting outside the bedroom door.
“Have you lost your mind?” Lilla hissed. “He’ll have us both arrested.”
“I don’t think so. It’s okay. Let’s just go.”
Lilla watched Chief Mullis like a mouse watching a cat who’s ready to pounce. She walked carefully around him to the stairs, the heels of her feet barely touching the carpet.
The chief smirked as he watched her head down the stairs and out the front door. “You owe me for this one, Dr. Lee. Make sure she didn’t take anything. And tell the crazy ladies what I said about someone,
besides
one of them, coming over here to identify the artifacts they say are theirs. I’ll hand them over to that representative.”
“Chief Mullis, that’s my mother you’re accusing of stealing from you,” she reminded him. “But I’ll tell the ladies what you said. I’d expect to hear from the museum pretty quickly.”
“I’ll check on those alibis, ma’am. Let me know if you get any closer to formulating a theory on anyone else you think could be involved.”
“I’ll do that.” She shook his hand and smiled at him. “But if those children aren’t guilty of anything bad that happened to Lois, you should think about giving them what you know she’d want them to have, whether you believe they did right by her or not.”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll think about it.”
LILLA WAS GONE WITHOUT A word by the time Peggy reached the area where their cars had been parked. It didn’t matter, she thought as she drove away. It wasn’t like she needed to be thanked for saving her own mother.
With no particular hurry about getting the yew branches to the university, she called Mai and told her she’d take the new bunch out to UNCC on Monday morning. Then she went home. Her feet were killing her even though her shoes were usually comfortable. She threw off her black suit, swearing she’d buy another. She promised the same thing after every funeral, but somehow it never happened.
She stepped into the shower. The hot water felt good, and her thoughts turned to calling Steve about dinner. Tomorrow was Sunday, and there was nothing pressing that had to be done. They could have a lazy morning together, and then she could go to the Potting Shed for a few hours. It would be nice to have a day off. At least what amounted to a day off for her.
She thought about what Chief Mullis had told her. Despite his family problems and his hard edge about his aunt, she believed he was a decent man. The ladies of the Shamrock Historical Society had already accused Jonathon and Snook of killing Lois. The chief was just another name to add to the list. Most of their ideas on the matter came more from emotion than fact.
Jonathon had been under suspicion because of his argument with Lois, which Peggy now knew to be valid. For whatever reason, Lois had taken the carnelian ring from the museum. If Jonathon was correct, she’d taken other items as well. That hardly seemed a killing offense to Peggy.
Snook could be a suspect. He had motive and opportunity, as well as Lois’s pocketbook. She could understand why the police had taken him into custody for what happened to her. But the ring and the poison berries didn’t make sense with him. No matter what, he’d be charged again with the theft of human remains and historical artifacts. But that didn’t mean he was guilty of murder.
Chief Mullis was another good suspect. His trip out to the lake that morning with Lois was unusual and made his action suspicious. His aunt would’ve taken poison berries from him. But Peggy believed that if the chief had killed his aunt, they would never have found her body. She didn’t believe a veteran police officer would be so sloppy. And she felt his remorse over leaving his aunt at the lake was sincere.
Who was left? If she didn’t like any of the three of them for the crime, she wasn’t sure where else to look. Jonathon or Chief Mullis could’ve given the old lady poison berries without her being suspicious. But she couldn’t imagine either one of them choosing that as a way to get rid of her. Why not simply push her into the mud? Lois couldn’t have fought either one of them.
There was also the ring to consider, as she had from the beginning. Now she felt certain Lois had expressly gone to the lake early to hand over that prize to someone. Snook could fit the bill for that act, although she couldn’t imagine the history-proud grande dame doing that. Maybe she was returning it to Jonathon. Peggy couldn’t see where the museum director could’ve threatened Lois to make her return the ring, but maybe she was missing something.
She looked at herself thoughtfully in the steamy mirror after she’d finished her shower. Her mostly white hair was down around her shoulders when it was wet. The marks of age and a life well lived were obvious on her face. She was lucky to have her mother’s cheekbones and a good sense of humor. Sometimes she felt they were the only things that got her through life.
Now she was about to enter yet another unplanned phase of her life: getting engaged, and possibly married, again. Steve was wonderful. She loved him. She couldn’t imagine anyone else fitting into her life the way he had for the past year.
She looked closer into her green eyes. Was it fair to offer Steve only half of the love she’d given John? She couldn’t give more than that since the other half would always belong to John. A part of her would always love him, always need him. He had completed her in ways Steve would never understand.
There was a spark in her eyes that she’d thought was gone forever. She’d been wrong. Steve was going to be there for the next half of her life. She wasn’t offering Steve less than she’d given John. There was still a heart full of love that beat inside of her. There was still warmth that met his, and times to be shared.