Twenty-seven
“Call off the dogs,” he said.
Aunt Peg hesitated. Beau, a big male, was standing beside her chair, barking as though he meant business. The Poodle wouldn’t attack, but Michael didn’t know that. He shifted the barrel of the gun slightly to point it at Beau’s head.
“No,” Peg said quickly.
She laid a reassuring hand on the dog’s shoulder. Immediately, Beau quieted. She stared at the rest of the group, and they followed suit, settling back on the floor.
“What are you doing here, Michael?” I asked.
“I was looking for Jane,” he said, his gaze settling on the girl. “I suspected she had information I needed. And I was right, wasn’t I?”
Aunt Peg glared. “You have a lot of nerve bringing a gun into my house. Is that the way your mother raised you to behave?”
Michael inclined his head. “I was raised on stories of great wealth that should have been mine, but wasn’t. I was never allowed to forget, even for a moment, that my grandmother was one of the Deer Park Howards. You’re right, however. My mother would be appalled at my manners. I apologize for the necessity of barging in this way. You must be Melanie’s Aunt Peg.”
“Peg Turnbull.” She stood and extended a hand. “And you must be the drama coach.”
“Quite right.” Michael eyed the hand, but declined to shake. “Please sit down, Mrs. Turnbull. I have no desire to use this gun, but I assure you, I will if I have to.”
“Aunt Peg,” I said, “don’t be a hero.”
She frowned in my direction and sat.
“Now what?” I asked. “I assume you’ve heard what Jane had to say.”
“And your conclusions as well,” said Michael. “I hope you’re right about the painting. I wouldn’t have suspected it myself, but Krebbs seems to have agreed with you.”
“Even if it does contain a treasure of some sort, it won’t have been worth killing for.”
“I quite agree.” Michael nodded. The gun remained steady. “What happened to Krebbs was an accident. He realized who I was not long after I arrived. I look just like my father. He looked just like his father. Krebbs couldn’t have been more than a kid at the time, but he remembered Jay Silverman. After that, it didn’t take him long to figure out why I was there.”
“So he tried to beat you to the treasure.”
Michael shrugged slightly. “Growing up, he’d heard the same rumors I had. The difference was, he didn’t believe them. Not until I showed up, anyway. At first, I thought he was just a dotty old man. I figured he’d stay out of my way.”
“He wasn’t as dotty as you thought.” Jane laughed. She didn’t seem unduly alarmed by the gun that was pointing in our direction. For once it seemed like a good thing that today’s kids have been so desensitized to violence. “He figured things out before you did.”
“So it appears. Even so, I never meant to hurt him. I went to the shed to try and reason with him. The way I saw it, the Howard family owed both of us. They destroyed my grandmother. They threw my father away like he was nothing.
“And look what they did to Krebbs. Seventy years old and still breaking his back for them. The Howards owed us. I proposed that we work together and split the money.”
Listening to him, I was reminded of the fact that Michael was an actor. He sounded thoroughly convincing. Obviously Krebbs hadn’t been fooled, though.
“Must be hard to stab someone with a pitchfork by accident,” Peg commented.
“Krebbs wouldn’t listen to me. I only picked the pitchfork up to threaten him with. I was trying to make a point.”
He’d done that, all right.
“Crazy old man,” Michael spit out. “He said I had no right to anything of the Howards. That my grandfather had taken a payoff years ago and run away, leaving Ruth to shoulder the blame for everything. Krebbs blamed my grandfather for her death.
“Before I could think what to do next, Krebbs charged at me. I guess he thought he could overpower me. He ran right into the pitchfork. It wasn’t my fault.”
I glanced around at Peg and Jane. None of us believed him; none of us dared argue.
“What about the drugs the police found?” I asked. “Who did they belong to?”
“Nobody. They were supposed to be, what do you detectives call it . . . a red herring? I bought some stuff from Brad and stashed it in the shed. Then I called in a tip and waited for everyone to go running in the wrong direction.”
“How did you get into the shed? The police had it sealed up tight.”
“Nothing about that place was tight,” Michael said. “Every damn window had a chink in it. I’d just killed someone. Do you honestly think I was going to worry about breaking into a crime scene?”
Now that he mentioned it, no.
“What about the fire?” Aunt Peg demanded. “Was that your doing, too? You nearly burnt my niece to a crisp. Not to mention Faith.”
At least for once she’d given me top billing.
“You were getting too close,” said Michael. “At first I thought it was a good idea that you were searching through the archives, too. I figured you’d bring whatever you found to me.”
“Michael was head of the pageant committee,” I explained to Peg. “We were supposed to be doing a program to commemorate the school’s founding.”
“That was convenient,” she said.
“Perfect,” Michael agreed. “I couldn’t have planned things better. But then you told me you had a diary that Ruth had been keeping when she knew my grandfather. There was no way I wanted that whole story to come out.”
Of course not. He’d been using it for leverage to insure his job.
“I had nothing against you personally, Melanie,” Michael said sincerely. “I wasn’t trying to harm you. I set the fire to destroy the book.”
Pardon me for not appreciating the distinction, I thought.
“The book wasn’t in the basement,” I told him. “I’d left it at home that morning. But it doesn’t matter now anyway. Plenty of people know who you are and what you’re up to, Michael. The police are looking for you.”
He shrugged, looking unconcerned. “They won’t find me. By the time they track me down here, I’ll be long gone. After I stop at the school and pick up the painting, I’m going to disappear. Ruth planned to use her mother’s treasure to run away. After all these years, it seems fitting that her grandson finish what she started.”
“Is this the point where you threaten to shoot us all because we know too much?” asked Aunt Peg.
I sent her a look. So help me, she seemed to be enjoying herself. For my part, I’d be enjoying things more if she didn’t go putting any ideas in his head.
“Don’t be melodramatic.” Michael sounded annoyed. “I’m not going to shoot anybody. All I need is a head start. I’m going to tie you up and leave you here. Later tonight, when I’m safely on my way, I’ll call and tell the police where you are.”
“For a murderer, you’re very accommodating,” said Peg.
I shot her another look. What was she up to?
“I’m not a murderer,” Michael snapped. “I told you what happened. The whole thing was Krebbs’s fault.”
“Just like the fact that you grew up poor was the Howards’ fault?” Peg goaded.
Michael glared at me. “Shut her up,” he demanded.
“I’ve often wished I could,” I said wistfully.
“It looks to me like you’re the sort of person who always needs someone to blame,” said Peg. “Even if Ruth’s treasure still exists after all this time, do you honestly think that finding it will change your life?”
“It better,” Michael said through gritted teeth. He reached around behind him and produced a roll of duct tape he’d left on a table in the hallway. “You first,” he said, motioning to Peg. “Stand up, walk over here slowly, and don’t try anything stupid.”
“Stupid?” Peg sniffed. “I’d say that was your department.” Unaccountably her voice rose. “When I walk, the dogs will come with me. You’re going to be mobbed.”
“Tell them to stay.”
“They never listen to me,” Peg said blithely, a blatant lie if ever I’d heard one. As she started toward Michael, I distinctly saw her give Beau a nudge with her toe. The Poodle leapt up; immediately, the others followed. “Don’t worry. They’re a big distraction, but they don’t bite.”
Subtle, Aunt Peg wasn’t. Obviously she had a plan, but what was it? Was I expected to take part?
Beside me, Jane was grinning. Just my luck, I was the only one who didn’t know what was going on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time.
Dogs milling around her legs, Peg walked toward Michael. She held out her hands obligingly, a sure sign that something was up. Peg never does anything she doesn’t want to do without an argument.
Maybe Michael was fooled by her age or the submissive demeanor she seemed to have adopted. He stuck the gun in his belt before yanking at the roll of duct tape and tearing off a strip. Looking down to see what he was doing, he didn’t see what Peg had in mind until it was too late.
Both hands outstretched, she shoved hard against his chest. If Beau hadn’t been behind him, Michael might have stood a chance. Instead, his balance already compromised, he tripped over the big Poodle and he went down in a heap.
Duct tape tangling in his fingers, Michael was struggling to get to his gun when Jane and I jumped up to join the fray. The Poodles were running around us, barking maniacally. First they’d gotten in Michael’s way; now they were in mine. I knew I wouldn’t reach him fast enough.
It didn’t matter. Aunt Peg had everything under control. Calmly she picked up the chair she’d been sitting on and hit Michael over the head with it.
I’d barely had time to assimilate that before the back door burst open. Guns drawn, a band of police officers led by Detective Shertz came flying into the room. The Poodles looked as stunned by this turn of events as I was. Aunt Peg was grinning.
Shertz skidded to a stop and looked down at Michael, out cold on the floor.
“Aren’t you going to yell ‘Freeze!’?” asked Jane. She was grinning, too.
The detective didn’t look amused. He turned to Aunt Peg. “Who do you think you are, John Wayne?”
“I didn’t expect to have to do the whole thing myself. I thought you were going to back me up.” She didn’t ask what-took-you-so-long? but the sentiment was clear in her tone.
“We were getting into position,” said Shertz. “You were supposed to wait for us to make our move.”
Obviously he’d never met my aunt before. Anyone who had would know that waiting patiently is not her style.
“That was cool,” said Jane.
“Wasn’t it?” Peg agreed, beaming. “I haven’t had that much fun in a long time. Melanie, next time you track down a murderer, I want you to promise to take me with you.”
If there was a suitable answer to that, I had no idea what it might be. Aunt Peg and Jane were congratulating themselves on their fine adventure. Meanwhile, my knees felt weak.
“You could have gotten yourself shot,” I said, as one of the officers used the phone to call for an ambulance.
“Oh pish,” said Aunt Peg. “He’d put the gun in his belt. If it had gone off, the only thing he’d have harmed was . . .” She glanced at Jane, who was listening avidly, and let the thought dangle.
Be careful what you wish for, I told myself darkly. I was the one who hadn’t wanted to miss out on the grand finale.
“Besides,” Peg said brightly, “all’s well that ends well. I seem to have worked up an appetite. Would any of you gentlemen like some cake?”
Shaking my head, I turned to Detective Shertz. “How did you know that Michael was here?”
“We didn’t. But by the time we’d checked his house and found out he wasn’t home, Russell Hanover had called the station. He said you’d located Jane, and we followed you here to pick her up.”
Jane sat down beside the table. Beau climbed up to put his front legs in her lap. Her fingers tangled in the silky black topknot, and her gaze was distant. “He killed Krebbs,” she said.
“I know,” Shertz’s voice was gentle. “We heard him tell you.”
“He was looking for me.”
“We wouldn’t have let him hurt you,” I said firmly, staring at Detective Shertz.
“Ms. Travis is right. Durant was making too many mistakes. We were already on his trail.”
By the time the ambulance arrived, Michael was moaning as he began to wake up; several of the officers were enjoying cake; and Peg and I were anxious to get back to Howard Academy. I’d called Russell as soon as the excitement died down and he was waiting for us. Detective Shertz was going to take Jane and deliver her to her grandmother, but I promised to call later and let her know what we’d found.
“Me too,” said Shertz, handing me his card. “I’ll be at the station a while tonight.”
Ten minutes later, we split up and headed in three different directions. Speed limits in Greenwich are low. I broke a few laws on the way to the school, but I was pretty sure I could get Shertz to fix a ticket if I had to.
Night comes early in March but from the road, Howard Academy was a blaze of light. I pulled up to the front door. Russell had it open before the Volvo even rolled to a stop. I’d explained much of what happened over the phone, but I hadn’t told him everything about Honoria’s portrait.
That was purely selfish on my part. If there really was a treasure, I wanted to be on hand for the unveiling. I set out for the faculty lounge at a jog. Peg, Russell, and Faith matched my pace.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I said, opening the door and flipping on the light. “After all this time, it may be nothing.”
I might as well have saved my breath. Despite the odds, I knew we were all hoping like crazy.
Together, Russell and I lifted the painting off the wall. Though I peered at it closely, the front looked the same as ever. From the back, there was nothing to be seen but the wooden frame and stretched canvas. I’d been hoping there would be paper across the back, perhaps with room to tuck something inside, but there wasn’t. Everything was exposed; no hiding place existed.