Read Murder at the Bellamy Mansion Online

Authors: Ellen Elizabeth Hunter

Murder at the Bellamy Mansion (9 page)

Instantly I saw the damage that the shooter had caused. The floor of the belvedere was littered with glass where the bullet had shattered one pane on the south side. The bullet had then passed through the belvedere, wounding Willie’s head before exiting through another glass pane on the north side.

And darkening the litter of glass shards was the rusty brown stain of Willie’s dried blood.

Lonnie followed Jon into the belvedere, and seemed subdued. “Head wounds bleed profusely, one of the nurses told us,” he said sadly.


The caretaker who let me in told me the cops found the bullet. They followed its trajectory and found it lodged high in a tree trunk over near the slave quarters. Only one bullet. People in the neighborhood said they heard only one shot fired. The forensics guys theorized that the shooter must have feared that firing a second bullet would attract attention and he had to make a quick getaway.”

Lonnie turned to me with sorrowful eyes as he politely gave me a hand while I stepped up onto the landing. “One shot and he almost killed my pa.”

I reached out and rubbed his arm.


This is worse than I imagined,” I said. “What do you think, Jon?”

Jon was trying not to look at the blood, as was I. “We’ve got two window panes to replace,” he said. “I think if we search the salvage yards we might get lucky and find a sash with glass panes from the same period. Then we can get a glass cutter to cut the panes to size to fit into our muntins.”


Mason has trained as a glazier,” Lonnie offered.


That’s great, Lonnie. We can use his help,” Jon said.


We’ve got sills, stiles, and rails to repair,” I said, eyeing the wood rot. “The exterior frames are in good shape because they were painted periodically.” The entire house had been painted its original pristine white fairly recently.


Probably these louvers will have to be replaced, as well,” Jon said, indicating moveable louvers that were set low in the wall which adjusted automatically to let cool air into the attic.

For all its beauty, the belvedere served a most important practical function. On hot days, the lower sashes in the windows in the main rooms of the house would be raised. The open sashes in the belvedere would draw breezes from the lower floors through the rooms, up the stairways, and out through the belvedere, creating circulating, cooler air. Then, in the Nineties, central air conditioning had been installed.

The light was brilliant up here as the sun shone through the twelve arched windows. I could see far into the distance. The historic district was spread out below us, and to the west the Cape Fear River rippled and sparkled as it flowed south. The belvedere lived up to its name: beautiful view. Now this fair lookout had been sullied by the attempted murder and near death of our good friend. I clenched my fists. I was deeply angry. What a senseless deed, I kept thinking to myself.

As we moved about the belvedere, every step we took resulted in the crushing and grinding of glass beneath our boots.


I’ve got a broom and dust pan, and a big plastic garbage can out in my truck,” Lonnie said. “I’ll go fetch them and we’ll get to work cleaning up this glass. We don’t want to be tracking glass shards through the house with our boots, and nothing can be done up here until we clean up my poor pa’s blood.”


Good idea,” Jon said. “Ashley and I will help. Then we’ll try to look on the positive side: Willie is going to be fine, and we’ve got a satisfying task begging for our attention.”

Lonnie moved toward the stairs. I turned to stare out of the shattered window across the intersection of Market and Fifth to the Carolina Apartments. Far below, in the middle of the intersection, the Kenan Fountain plashed water merrily. The apartment building was one of the few structures as tall as the Bellamy Mansion. With a scope on a rifle, the shooter would have had an unobstructed view of the belvedere. Anyone up here would have been a sitting duck for an ace shooter who had his heart set on murder.

As Nick had said, the area had been saturated with uniformed police officer presence. I’d seen them as we’d driven to the Bellamy.

I was deep in thought, trying to make sense of a tragedy that made no sense. No one hated Willie. He was respected and admired. And loved by many.

The next thing I knew I heard a crash. I wheeled around to see the railing crashing down the stairwell. And Lonnie sliding down the stairs under the fallen stair rail.


 

 

 

 

11

 


That railing was tampered with!” Jon exclaimed. He and I were trapped in the belvedere while Lonnie lay moaning on the stairs. He too was trapped by the sections of railing that had fallen on him.

We had called 911 and already could hear sirens approaching from a distance.


I can see that the railing has been tampered with,” I said, as I crunched over shattered glass to hunker down next to the broken railing.

I looked down at Lonnie. He was conscious, eyes darting. “The ambulance is on its way,” I said.


Don’t move, Lonnie,” Jon called down. “You could have a fracture.”


I don’t think I broke a bone,” Lonnie called. “I’m just afraid to move because I’ve got these broken pickets poking at me every which way.”


OK, don’t move. The paramedics will get you out. Someone did this on purpose,” Jon said.

I peered closely at the stubs of the old pickets “You can see where they unscrewed the bolts that held the reinforcement railing in place. And they sawed through the old pickets. We would have seen this if we had been looking. But we were too focused on the blood and broken glass to notice.” Then I said to Lonnie, “You must have grabbed the railing when you started down the stairs.”


Yeah, I did that automatically,” Lonnie replied. “Like I always do. Force of habit. Grabbed onto the railing and started down. Next thing I knew, the whole blame thing came apart and was hitting my head and shoulders. Then the big rail came down and trapped me under it. Now I’ve got these sawed off pickets poking at me and I’m afraid to move.”

From our vantage point in the belvedere, I saw the ambulance pull into the parking lot. The siren stopped its yelping and there was blessed silence. Two volunteers came out of the gift shop, staring at the ambulance in awe and puzzlement. In seconds, racing footsteps and loud voices on the lower staircase announced the arrival of the paramedics.


Up here,” I called. “We’re up here.”

In seconds the paramedics pulled the demolished railing pieces from off Lonnie and threw them into a pile in the hallway. While one EMT took Lonnie’s blood pressure, shone a light in his eyes, and asked him questions, the other felt his limbs for breaks. In another minute, they had a cuff around Lonnie’s neck, somehow maneuvered him onto a stretcher, and were carrying him down the stairs.


We’ll follow you to the medical center, Lonnie,” I called.


No, you won’t. You’ve got some questions to answer,” a familiar voice called from below.

Jon and I looked at each other. “Oh, no,” I groaned. And we went down the stairs to find Nick waiting for us.


Have you become an ambulance chaser?” I asked, as I thought how grateful I was that Nick was alone and Diane Sherwood did not seem to be here to fawn over him on this occasion.

He ignored my sarcasm. Without his habitual sunglasses I could at least see his eyes. He looked very worried, and that gave me a shock.


Are you all right?” Nick asked and grasped me by the shoulders.

I shook off his hands. “I’m fine. It’s Lonnie who fell. Jon and I,” and I stressed the name Jon, “are fine.”


What were you doing up there?” Nick growled.


We work here. Remember?” Jon responded.

Nick paused for a second and stared at us. “Yeah, right.”

Then he turned his back on us and paced down the hallway to a midpoint where he stopped. He seemed to straighten up a little taller, and braced his shoulders. Then he turned and retraced his steps back toward us. What in the world was going on with him?

 


OK. When I heard the call on the scanner for an ambulance here at the mansion, I decided to check it out.”

Now he was back in his cop’s mode.

He continued, “I didn’t know what I was going to find here but since you and Jon are involved with this project, I wanted to see for myself what was going on. I didn’t expect to . . . well, I’m glad you and Jon are not injured. Now, tell me exactly what happened here?”

Jon reminded Nick that we were going to restore the belvedere, and that to do so we had to assess the damage from the shooting. Then he told Nick that Lonnie grabbed the handrail and started down the steps only to have the entire rail fall apart and crash into the stairwell, throwing Lonnie off balance and causing him to fall.


This was no accident,” Jon stated. “Someone sabotaged the reinforcement railing and sawed through the pickets. This was deliberate.”

Nick circled the stack of broken railing, then kicked at it. “I can see that. I doubt there will be any useful fingerprints with so many hands touching this thing, but I’ll have the CSU guys take a look anyway.”

I remembered something. “Nick, Willie told us he caught one of the rental equipment guys roaming around up here the morning he was shot.”


Yeah, Hudson told me the same thing. We’re looking into that,” Nick responded with disinterest.

Then he gave us a thoughtful look. “You know, when Hudson was shot, I thought this was all about him. Someone with a grudge against Hudson. But now? Well, I am reassessing our perp’s motives. Looks to me like he’s trying to shut down this project. Someone does not want you restoring that observatory. Why would anyone want to do that?” He looked from Jon to me.

I replied, “Nick, that doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone care enough to prevent us from restoring the belvedere?”


That is what I’m asking you, Ashley.”


Well, I don’t know.”


What other explanation is there?” Nick asked.


You’re the detective, Nick,” I said.


And you’re always the victim!” he retorted savagely.

Jon had said nothing during this exchange. Now he said, “Nick, we used to be friends. Now all we get from you is hostility.”


That’s true, Nick,” I said. “Why are you so hostile?”

Nick’s jaw tightened with suppressed rage. “Because, dammit, that could have been you up there, grabbing the broken hand rail and falling down those stairs! And that could have been you in the belvedere when a sharp-shooter went on a shooting rampage! You little fool, you’re always so careless. And then you find yourself in danger. And you expect me to come rescue you!”

His intensity alarmed me.


Now,” he threatened, “I’ve got a good mind to shut down this project until we catch this guy.”


You can’t do that,” I yelled at him.


Oh yes, I can, baby. In the interest of public safety I can declare this mansion off limits until we’ve got our perp locked up securely behind bars!”


 

 

 

 

12

 


Nick is still in love with you, Ashley,” Jon told me over dinner. I did not detect resentment in his statement. Nor jealousy. Jon is much too confident about what he has to offer to be jealous of another man.

He gave me one of his special looks. It’s the one where his face lights up and his eyes look deeply into mine, so that I experience again our connection and the joy that passes between us. Plus the raw animal magnetism. “Not that I blame him. Only an idiot would let you go.”


Oh, Jon, I don’t think so. Nick just lets himself get so wrapped up in a case that he can’t think straight. I lived with him, remember? I know how he can be.”

But secretly I agreed with Jon. Nick was still in love with me. I had seen it in his eyes. But I would never, ever admit that to Jon.


Ashley, I’m glad Nick didn’t have the good sense to appreciate what he had until it was too late. For two years I played the role of your best bud. Waiting for you to open your eyes and see me. Waiting for you to grow up, I suppose.


I was grateful to Nick when he went off the deep end and got caught up in that Blackwater Security misadventure. Thought he was some sort of super-hero but all he ever was was just another hired gun. Went to Iraq with those outlaws and didn’t even tell you where he was going. Nick’s a dope.”

He gave me one of his heart melting smiles. “But I’m glad he’s a dope. Because of his idiocy I got the chance to show you how good we could be together. We want the same things out of life. The universe is a better place because we are together. This is just so right.”

I reached across the table and stroked his hand. “I couldn’t agree more. So let’s forget about Nick and not spoil this wonderful dinner with talk of him. It’s bad enough he keeps turning up with his investigation. Now, how about refilling my wineglass.”

 

 

We had spent hours at the medical center emergency room while Lonnie was checked over and X-rayed. Even though his parents were right there in the same hospital, Lonnie would not permit anyone to phone them, or any members of his family.

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