Last Puzzle & Testament (8 page)

All eyes were glued to Chief Harper.

“Thank you,” the Chief said. “Some of you are aware there was a break-in at the Hurley mansion the night before last. A man by the name of Jeff Beasley was apprehended on the premises—”

“Is that the man last night said I owed him a drink?” Philip Hurley interrupted.

“That’s him,” Arthur [x20y inter Kincaid said. “If you would let the Chief finish.”

“Thank you,” Chief Harper said. “But, actually, you’re getting right to the point I want. Jeff Beasley was drinking last night at the Country Kitchen. I’m wondering how many of you happened to see him there.”

“Why?” Becky Baldwin demanded.

“Can I assume you saw him there?”

“Of course I saw him there. He’s my client. Why?”

“Were you there when he left?”

Becky Baldwin smiled. “You’re talking to a lawyer, Chief. I let you sidestep the question once as a courtesy, now I’d like to know. Why are you asking?”

“Early this morning Jeff Beasley was found dead in a drainage ditch.”

There were gasps around the conference room.

Becky Baldwin’s perfect face fell, and Sherry suddenly felt sorry for her. Becky was not some high-powered attorney. She was a fledgling lawyer, a vulnerable young girl, who had just been cruelly deprived of her only client. There was even a tear in her eye. As Sherry watched, Becky reached up, wiped it away. But when she spoke, her voice scarcely trembled. “How did it happen?”

“That’s what I have to determine,” Chief Harper replied. “It’s an accidental death, and that’s probably all it is, but I have to make sure. So it becomes necessary that I trace his movements. So, is there anyone who recalls when Jeff Beasley left the Country Kitchen last night?”

“Absolutely not,” Philip Hurley said. “The man wasn’t important, there was no reason to notice him at all.”

“I thought you said he hit you up for a drink,” Phyllis Hurley Applegate put in.

Chief Harper looked from one to the other. “You would be the Hurley twins? Remind me of your names.”

“I’m Philip. My snide, insinuating sister is Phyllis.”

“Snide? Insinuating?” Phyllis snorted. “Did you or did you not say that sot pestered you for a drink?”

“That was before you got there. I didn’t see him after that. I can’t say the same for you.”

“Did you see Jeff Beasley leave the Country Kitchen last night?” Chief Harper asked Phyllis.

“Well, I like that.” Phyllis stuck her nose in the air. “Are you going to let him put ideas in your head?”

“No, but I intend to get the answers to some questions. Right now I want to know if anyone saw Beasley leave the Country Kitchen last night.”

["juone 201C;I saw him leave.”

Heads swiveled to the end of the table, where Daniel Hurley sat sprawled in his chair, feet out, head back, lounging in a youthful, insolent manner.

“You saw him leave?” Chief Harper said.

“Absolutely. I saw him stagger out the door.”

“You left then too?”

“Yes, I did. I didn’t offer him a ride. If I had, I probably would have saved his life.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“He’s not the sort of person you’d want on the back of your motorcycle.”

“Ah, yes.” Chief Harper nodded. “So you drove off and left Beasley there? In the parking lot?”

“That’s right.”

“You see anyone else in the lot?”

“Matter of fact, I did. Nerdy chap, was talking to Sherry’s friend. The old lady.”

“Sherry?”

Daniel Hurley gestured. “Sherry Carter. Who happens to be here. For no good reason that I can think of, although I am personally pleased.”

“Uh huh,” Chief Harper said. “And this nerdy man was talking to the Puzzle Lady?”

“Who?”

“Cora Felton. Sherry’s aunt.”

“Yes, that’s who.” Daniel Hurley cocked his head at Sherry. “She’s the Puzzle Lady? Just what is that?”

Chief Harper put up his hand. “If you don’t mind, we’ll socialize later. For the moment, I’m interested in who else noticed when these three left. By that I mean, Jeff Beasley, you, young man—and your name is?”

“Daniel Hurley.” He smiled. “Hurley relative and profit participant.”

Philip Hurley stiffened. “Now, look here, young man—”

“Please,” Chief Harper interjected. “If we could move this along. And the third person in the parking lot was a man known to your aunt, Miss Carter? And would you know who might that be?”

“Harvey Beerbaum,” Sherry replied. “He’s a cruciverbalist. A crossword-puzzle expert. He was boring Cora with his expertise.”

“And did you see Mr. Beerbaum leave?”

“No. Cora and I left first.”

“Uh huh. How about the rest of you? Did any of you see this man leave? Or Daniel Hurley or Jeff Beasley, for that matter?”

“I wasn’t in the Country Kitchen last night,” the flat-faced woman next to the Applegates declared.

“Yes, Annabel, I quite understand,” Chief Harper said. He took out a notebook, flipped it open, and wrote. “Annabel Hurley, no. And is there anyone else who was
not
in the Country Kitchen last night?”

“I wasn’t.” The elderly man sitting next to the Hurleys had a surprisingly clear voice for one with such bad teeth.

Chief Harper smiled. “Yes, Chester, I’m sure you weren’t.” He jotted on his notepad. “Chester Hurley, no. And you, Mildred,” he said to the woman Sherry had categorized as a spinster, “weren’t there either. Mildred Sims, no. And Kevin Holbrook,” he said to the teenage boy, “who I would not have expected to be drinking at the Country Kitchen.” Kevin Holbrook tugged at his shirt collar, looked embarrassed. “Fine. That’s who I
don’t
have to deal with, that leaves the ones I do. How about it? Aside from Daniel Hurley, did anyone actually see Jeff Beasley or the puzzle maker in the parking lot?”

No one said anything.

“Okay, I guess that’s it. I’m sorry to hold you all up. I have just one more thing to ask. Would anyone mind if I stuck around to hear the will?”

Arthur Kincaid frowned. “For what purpose?”

“Probably none,” Chief Harper answered. “But Jeff Beasley broke into the Hurley mansion, spent last night harassing the Hurley heirs, and wound up dead. I know it’s a long shot, but I have to ask myself, is there any possibility that there’s anything in the Hurley will that could shed some light on that. So would anyone object if I heard the will?”

“I insist on it,” Daniel Hurley said.

All eyes turned to him.

“What?” Phyllis Hurley Applegate demanded.

“Absolutely,” Daniel Hurley said. “And you should insist on it too. I have nothing to hide. I know that there is absolutely nothing in that will that could possibly implicate me in this man’s death in any way. And I would think that would be true of all of you. But I must say, I would be utterly fascinated to see which of you might possibly object.” He looked around the room, smiling broadly. “Are there any of you who feel threatened at hearing the contents of Auntie’s will? If so, please speak up. If not, then let’s let the nice policeman stay. Let’s let them
all
stay. Sherry, wouldn’t you like to hear the will? You can stay. And the reporter and the lawyer. You can stay too, if you weren’t already invited. Does anyone object to these people staying?”

There was a very sullen silence.

“Fine,” Daniel Hurley continued. ȁ [inup filepos-id="filepos164182">

Daniel Hurley tilted his chair back, cocked his head.

“Let’s hear the will.”

Arthur Kincaid snapped open his briefcase, took out a sealed envelope, and held it up. “This is Emma Prentice Hurley’s will, executed entirely in her own hand, sealed in this envelope, and not to be opened until we were all assembled here.”

“If you didn’t open it, how do you know that?” Phyllis Hurley Applegate demanded.

Arthur Kincaid took a second envelope from his briefcase. “From this,” he replied. “Emma Hurley’s instructions to me. Which I have read, and which I shall read to you now.”

The second envelope was unsealed. Arthur Kincaid took a letter from it, unfolded it. Again, he cleared his throat.

“
To my solicitor, Arthur Kincaid. Since you are reading this
,” Arthur Kincaid read, “
it means that I am dead. I must say, rather than depressing, I find the concept quite liberating. Since I am dead, there is nothing anyone can do to me. And yet there are still things that can be done, things that I can do, actions that I can take, through you, as my solicitor. My wishes can be carried out in death, perhaps even more so than they ever were in life. I find it, by and large, quite a satisfactory arrangement.

“
I hope that you will pardon my whimsy. If you won’t, too bad. Be that as it may, please think of me as smiling with glee as you carry out my instructions.

“
But, to be serious: I have given a good deal of thought as to who should inherit my estate. None of my relatives are what you would call close, unless you count false flattery and sycophantic toadying as forms of endearment. Indeed, I have few good feelings for the most solicitous of my kin, knowing from what rapacious motivation their attentions sprang.
”

“Aha!” Philip Hurley said, grinning wickedly and pointing his finger at Phyllis Hurley Applegate.

“Aha yourself!” Phyllis shot back. “You’re the one she’s talking about.”

“
Yes, Philip, I’m talking about you,
” Arthur Kincaid read. “
You and your get-rich-quick schemes. Which you were always ready to embrace as long as they didn’t involve any actual good old-fashioned work.
”

“See?” Phyllis gloated.

“
And I’m talking about you, ^inup>height="1Phyllis,
” Arthur went on, “
and your never-ending quest to marry for money. Did either of you ever succeed? Somehow I doubt it. I must admit, I long ago lost touch with my family through the simple expedient of burning all correspondence unread. So I have no idea if any of you ever amounted to anything, indeed, if you are even still alive. If you are, it pleases me no end that your very greed shall force you to stay and hear my insults. So hold your snippy little tongues, and prick up your avaricious little ears.
”

Daniel Hurley’s grin grew enormous.

“
Are you enjoying this, Jason? You probably are. You always loathed your brother and sister, didn’t you? At least you pretended you did, knowing I loathed them. Just as you pretended not to like me. Or was that really pretense? You certainly acted as if it were. Tried to give everyone the impression you were a romantic renegade, turning your back on the family fortune. Why did you do that, Jason? Did you see some movie where the dying patriarch turned out to be secretly fond of the renegade son? Well, guess what? Bad news. I am no more enamored of those who despise me openly than I am of those who love me only for my wealth.
”

“Aha!” Philip and Phyllis said it in unison, gloating gleefully at Daniel. The effect was disconcerting, to say the least.

“
None come in favor, all come in sufferance, any could I cut off with nary a qualm.

“
So, whom shall I call? Why, all of them, of course.

“
I charge you to summon my heirs. All of my siblings, and all of their descendants. Specifically, my sister, Alicia Hurley, deceased, and her daughter, Annabel Hurley; my brother Randolph Hurley, deceased, and his daughter, Phyllis Hurley, and sons, Philip and Jason Hurley. I bid you summon them and their offspring to the reading of my will.

“
To this number add the following: my trusted companion, Mildred Sims, whose loyalty and service were unequaled, would my relatives only have been so nice; my yard boy, Kevin Holbrook, who kept the view from my bedroom window pleasing to the end; and last, but not least, my brother Chester, who will resent being mentioned, and will not want to come. Drag him, kicking and screaming, for I hereby charge you that my will shall not be read outside his presence, be he still alive. I am sorry, Chester. You may have avoided me in life, but you will not in death. So close that gap-toothed mouth of yours, sit quiet, and give ear. After this, you’ll be free to do as you like.

“
I charge you, Arthur Kincaid, to assemble the aforementioned people, and then—and only then—in their presence, to break the seal and read my will.

“
Should you fail to do so, should this letter in some way disappear, should the provisions of my last will and testament not be carried out in full to every last detail and specification, I assure you I have set the wheels in m ce wovisiootion that this act shall be discovered and exposed.

“Signed,
Emma Prentice Hurley.
”