Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 03 - The Priest Who Ate a Poison Petit Fore (5 page)

“That case led me to him,” she said, pointing over to her betrothed. “I’ll tell you about it later, but regardless, Buster’s right. We’re going to have to find a way to get our hands on them.”

“There’s more,” Cate informed. All eyes fell on her. “How well do you know Reverend Whipson?”

Hym looked to his sister before turning back and answering. “Pretty well, I’d say.”

“We were members of his church since we were born, up until our mother died,” added Magdalen. “He lived on the same street we did with his wife, Ophelia, and he used to watch after us when Dad was sick. Why?”

“He had a record.”

“A what?” Hym asked with a hint of disbelief.

“He served at Draper Correctional Facility in Alabama.”

Before Hym could ask, Cate answered the next obvious question.

“Grand theft auto when he was nineteen. Sixteen counts. He served six years on a ten year sentence.”

Hym and Magdalen sat with stunned expressions. Cate reached over and tapped on the papers she had produced.

“The timeline suggests that he found religion while incarcerated. His ministerial registration suggests it happened while he was prisoner number ACV-632911. Jonathan Isaac Whipson. He married an Ophelia Oswald three years after his release. Moved to Zebulon, worked as a mechanic. At some point, he took over Zebulon Presbyterian, becoming a full time clergyman. During that time, he had one daughter.”

“Clarice. Susan’s mother. She married Hodge Derkins,” Magdalen affirmed.

Cate avowed with a nod.

Hym reached out and took a drink of his tea, gulping down a large amount. When he was done, he said nothing but turned to look away from everyone. Hannah could tell the news upset him, but did not know how to respond, so she waited, as did everyone. After what seemed forever for Hannah, Magdalen reached out and took her brother’s hand. When he turned to look at her, she gave him a slight smile.

“Doesn’t change a thing. He’s still the same man we knew. We just didn’t know this. Everyone has a past, even you.”

Hannah wondered about her future sister-in-law’s words. For a second, she half contemplated pushing what that meant, but she decided it was a conversation for later. Now, she needed to offer Hym some comfort. She took hold of his other hand.

“Me as well.”

Everyone confessed as much.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Hym said. “It just took me by surprise, that’’s all.” He managed a halting smile.

“If anything, it proves we are all capable of change,” Al added. He winked at Cate. She pulled him down to kiss the top of his dark brown-skinned baldhead.

All agreed. When they settled, Hym returned to the information of Whipson’s incarceration.

“Is his record connected to all this?”

Again, Cate shrugged. “It’s just information. Working with nosy butt over the years...” She gestured to Hannah with a cock of the head. ““I’ve learned not to dismiss anything or anyone.”

Hannah stuck her tongue out at Cate. Cate returned the same. Laughter again ensued at the childish exchange between friends. Then Hannah wiggled her nose as she stared at the restaurant ceiling. She stopped when a waiter placed a plate of fried green tomatoes and a grilled cheese in front of her. Contemplating the dish, she grabbed a slice and held it up. Studying it, she said, “Well, he’’s connected to each case for sure. Either as friend, minister, or counselor. Maybe someone is getting even with him.” She bit into the slice and made a pleased face. “So good.””

Magdalen watched Hannah. Her eyes cut over to Buster. He grinned and pointed at the sleuth.

“Eats like that all the time.”

“And never gains an ounce. Sickening,” Cate added.

Magdalen nodded as Hannah continued.

“When you all were growing up, did you ever notice anything unusual with him? Maybe someone coming around now and again? Was he ever nervous?”

“He was a minister, Sherlock,” Hym answered. “Someone was always coming around. He was no more nervous than anyone else was, I suppose, but you are talking a long expanse of time to remember something that general. Forty years I’ve known him, and until tonight, I never knew he was an ex-con, which means that he’s a private man. More so than expected. So, if something was happening, or did happen, I doubt his parishioners would know. You’’d have to ask the man himself.”

Hannah agreed with a nod and another bite. “Will do when we get there.”

Cate landed her eyes on Magdalen. With a grin, she said, “A word of warning. If you spend any amount of time around her…” She pointed to Hannah. “You’’re going to find yourself in a lot of trouble.”

Magdalen grinned but looked rather sudden to Buster. “Trouble. That’s my middle name.”

Buster gulped. Hym frowned. Everyone else laughed.

Chapter Four

Magdalen sat across from Vera Bessinger. She understood what the woman said, but did not grasp it in full. “I’m sorry, but you landed a helicopter where?”” Magdalen asked.

“Twilight stadium. My stepfather, Asa, owns the Zephyrs. He and my dad are baseball fans. Minor leagues in particular,” Vera Bessinger answered while studying the bridesmaid gown she wore. “But I did not land it. The pilot did.” She smiled at Hym’s sister as if what she said was part of a normal conversation. “It’’s just one of the company transports,” Vera added.

Magdalen looked over to Buster with a questioning expression. He sat in the corner, arms crossed in protest at having to attend a ‘woman’s dress up party’ as he referred to it. ““Worth a bundle,” Buster mouthed. “I’ll tell you about it later.” Magdalen acknowledged in wide-eyed wonder.

Cate studied Vera, whose dress was like her own. “I must say, I had my doubts, but you are rocking it.” She motioned for Vera to spin around. The floor length, spaghetti strapped bridesmaid gown was nothing like either of them expected. Over a black body, a shear, black lace woven in a floral pattern over an underlying light silk pink form unified the dress. A leg split revealed the light pink, silk lining. Black and pink heels rounded out the piece.

“You both are stunning,” Hannah said, as she stepped from behind an antique, four fold dressing screen. Doing so, Cate’s eyes widened. Vera’’s mouth opened.

Buster rose to his feet. “Wow,” he uttered in a stunned voice.

The bride-to-be stood beaming at the dress that adorned her thin, fit body. The open shouldered, full-sleeved gown encompassed a nearly perfect circle at the floor. It was composed of shear, black lace, woven in a floral pattern over an underlying light silk pink form. A short top, black Victorian hat with a pink band adorned her head.

Standing before her friends, she tried to speak, but found no words, just a smile. Seeing her do so, Cate and Vera moved to embrace and the three stood in joy for a moment. They stopped when Buster sniffed a few times, wiping back tears of his own. Magdalen moved over and put a comforting arm around him. This brought laughter to the room.

“This isn’t what I ordered,” Hannah confessed. “Vera?””

Vera smiled as Hannah drew her into a hug. “How did I do?” she asked.

“Amazing,” she said. “It must have cost you a fortune though.”

Vera laughed. “Like that matters now, thanks to the three of you, and Hym, of course.” She thumbed to Cate and Buster. “Cate got me the measurements. It seems she’’s been waiting on this day almost as long as you.”

“Don’t you know it? Now, if I can get Cue Ball to ask me, you are going to have to fork over the name of that designer. Honey, you are smoking hot. Putting the sexy in getting married.”

Hannah gave Cate a hug as well, then Buster. Glancing over to Magdalen, she opened herself up for one more. The woman obliged. Magdalen then turned to Vera. “You did this?”

Vera smiled and cocked her head. “Well. It seems I have this friend who called to tell me another friend was not happy with what she was going to get married in. Since I now have more money than one person should, thanks to that friend, I figured I should do something about that. Besides, I needed to get her a wedding present. So, my friends and I got together, arranged an online meeting with an amazing designer who works at a company I own a part off. Then I paid a team of seamstresses a whole lot to get it done in short order.”

The smile on Hannah’s face spoke volumes. Vera’s gesture caught her by surprise, a rare event in her life. Her mind raced back through the events that led to this day. The investigation into Chef Julia Karas’ murder. The meeting of Vera, and the woman’s ultimate inheritance of a multi mega million-dollar empire. Thanks to all those coincidental events, she now stood in a wedding gown that far exceeded her greatest expectations.

“Where’s Gran and your mom?” Buster inquired. “I kind of thought they would be here.”

“Mom and Dad are still in the rainforest on a dig. Gran didn’t want to come along. She wants it all to be a surprise.”

“And she will be,” Cate assured. “As will everyone. How many guests are you up to?”

“I drew the line at two hundred and fifty. I didn’t want it this big, but well, over the years, it seems I made some acquaintances.”

Again, Magdalen assumed a stunned face. “There’s maybe fifty from our side.”

“That’s fine,” Hannah assured. “You and Hym are the important ones.””

Magdalen drew up a sudden, pensive look. “Are Susan and Calvin coming?”

Hannah confirmed. “They are, but they are also going to be looking after the Reverend.”

“Have you considered a backup plan just in case? Given the Reverend’s condition and all.”

Magdalen’s question struck Hannah.
A backup plan
, rolled through her mind.
Calvin. Susan. Backup plan
. Something about the words toyed with Hannah.
Acting as one. Each as a backup. Could it be?
A tap on the shoulder brought her back to the moment.

“Uh-uh,” Cate issued in a stern voice and a wave of a finger. “Not today. Head in the game. Wedding dresses and lunch with us girls. That’’s all that needs to be running around that genius of yours right now.” She tapped the center of Hannah’s forehead. “You can twirl it around up there on your way to Happiness tomorrow.”

“But a backup plan would---”

“We’ll discuss a real backup plan as soon as we finish here.” Cate turned to Buster. “You sure you’re not coming?”

Buster shook his blond head. “I’m meeting the other half of this party at Garrity’s for the tuxes. Then we’ll grab a bite somewhere.”

Hannah frowned but agreed, though a question still played in her head. Could the deaths be a backup to hide some larger plan? Every one of the victims tied together through Susan and Calvin’s medical practice. However, linking them to that single thread held a limited number of possibilities. Cate had checked into the financials of each known victim. She mentioned nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing raised a red flag. No victim left anything to the practice. Their final bills were settle.
Settled
, Hannah pondered.
A possibility
. She wondered if a victim’s sudden death led to the settlement of bills without looking into their medical history. If the diagnosis did not match the billing for procedures, then by killing those for a different reason would make sense.
In a sick kind of way
, Hannah further noted to herself. In doing so, only the immediate cause of death would need investigation. This caused another few questions to come to mind. Could the murders just be a front to bilk insurance companies? Could, at the base of all this be simple human greed? The thought sent a shiver up her spine. Although she just met Susan and Calvin, she liked them both. Hannah could not imagine them as killers, especially over money. Then she harkened back to her conversation with Cate and that single name arose again.
Conny Miller
, she considered
. She’s right. I don’t know them
.

“You still with us?” Cate asked.

Hannah forced a smile to her face as she filed in the back of her mind,
considerations for later
.

“Yeah, I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” She then gestured toward her dress and those of her bridesmaids, “At least this is a relief. You two look fabulous.”

Vera and Cate smiled as Magdalen agreed.

“Well, in those, I’d marry any one of you, Johnny-on-the-spot,” Buster interjected, taking all three in.

“Aww, and here I am without one,” Magdalen said, pushing her lip out in a mock pout.

Buster gulped, Magdalen grinned, and Vera smirked. Hannah locked eyes with Cate, and then leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“You might want to hang onto that dress. You and I may be groom’s maids soon.”

Both chuckled.

*****

Chapter Five

As they drew closer to Happiness, Hym glanced in the review mirror at his sister. She lay scotched up in the corner of the seat, fast asleep. The sight made him smile. He then turned to look at Hannah. Along the way, he noticed her becoming more and more quiet. At first, he said nothing. He assumed that when she was ready, she would let him know what bothered her. However, after an hour of watching her quirks, he could no longer stand it. “What’s up, Sherlock?” he inquired.