1 Death Pays the Rose Rent (17 page)

“Come off it, Tori. You’re talking about the only person in Lickin Creek who liked the bastard.”

“I know that, but love can turn to hate very quickly. Especially if he told her he was dumping her for someone else. He wasn’t exactly known for his fidelity.”

“Okay. Who’s next on your character-assassination list?”

I slowly wrote down the number eleven, but I was running out of ideas. “The Seligmans were there. Hy seemed to have some sort of gripe about being cheated out of some prime real estate.”

“Tori, if that were a motive, we could include half the people in town. Why not put down Father Burk-

holder? He was furious with Richard when he lost the chance to buy the property next to his school.”

“I think we’re both getting squirrelly, Garnet.”

Number eleven was still blank.

I thought for a moment, then wrote down Mayor Somping. Garnet abruptly sat up straight in his chair and stared at me sharply. “What made you put the mayor down?”

“Because he’s no more a member of the Laotian royal family than I am. When I spoke to him in Lao, he answered in the vernacular of the commoners.”

Garnet’s jaw dropped as his eyes widened in surprise. “You speak Lao?”

“I just said I did, didn’t I?”

Did I detect a faint glimmer of admiration in those blue eyes? “You’re right, you know,” he told me. “The whole bit about being an escaped prince was something Somping dreamed up to impress Americans. And it worked. Without that phony title, he’d be lucky to have a job as janitor. Somehow Richard found out and had been blackmailing him for several years.”

“Blackmail! I knew Richard was a slimeball, but I never thought he was that low. Does the mayor have enough money to make blackmail worthwhile?”

“Richard didn’t ask for money. He got special treatment when he was applying for zoning changes to make some property he was selling worth more. He also demanded that the mayor turn a blind eye to a lot of building-code violations.”

“Maybe we should move the mayor up to number one,” I said.

“Somping came to me and admitted this on his own. He’s deeply ashamed of himself. I spoke to Richard several months ago and told him the blackmail would stop immediately—or else! That took care of the problem.”

He drained his coffee cup and frowned. “We’ve certainly been successful at destroying the reputations of half the leading citizens of the town, but there’s something else I bet you don’t know.”

“What’s that?”

“You saw Richard’s body. Did you get a good look?”

“I saw enough.”

“Do you remember where his head wound was?”

I shuddered, remembering his one eye, his left eye, staring at the sky. “The whole right side of his face was smashed. I get it! He was most likely hit by someone left-handed. A right-handed person would naturally have hit him on the left side of his face.”

“Good for you. This doesn’t mean it couldn’t have been done by a rightie, but it gives us somewhere to start. Now, how many of our suspects are left-handed?”

“I don’t have any idea.”

“I do. I checked everyone out while I was interviewing them. Everyone in the Thorne family is left-handed, talk about your genetic quirks. So is Praxythea. I don’t know about LaVonna, and nobody could remember. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean any of them did it. There are a lot of lefties in the world.”

“Fifteen percent of the population.”

“You should know,” he said, smiling, as he stared at the pen in my left hand.

I tried to shift his attention away from me. “This just makes me more sure than ever that it was Praxythea.”

“How about considering our ‘92 presidential candidates, Bush, Perot, and Clinton, if we’re going to suspect all the lefties in the world?”

Something beeped and we both jumped. Garnet reached into his pocket and pulled out one of those annoying little electronic devices that have become status symbols in so many professions.

“Excuse me, office calling.” He disappeared into the kitchen in search of a phone, while I sat there doodling on the tablecloth, trying to ignore the curious stares of the other diners.

When he returned, his face was serious. “We have to go,” he said as he pulled out my folding chair.

He took my arm and guided me from the building. No time was spent in saying good-byes.

As he was boosting me into the truck, Velvet came running out of the fire hall, waving what looked like a white flag of surrender. “You’uns foigot your tablecloth. I thought it might be important when I saw all them names on it.”

I wondered if I’d be saying “you’uns” by the time I got back to New York.

“Thanks, Velvet,” Garnet said, taking the greasy sheet of paper from her. “Love ya.”

“Love ya, too. Hope the judge is all right.”

Garnet clenched his eyes shut and rubbed them with his fists. “How’d you know about the judge?”

“Jest heard it on the scanner.” Garnet jerked the monster truck onto the road, made a wide U-turn that threw me up against the door, and headed back toward Lickin Creek. “What happened?” I asked. “Judge Parker. He’s been killed.” “Oh my God. Was it …?” “I’m afraid so. Murder.”

CHAPTER 15 

Several cars and an ambulance were already parked in front of Judge Parker’s large, turn-of-the-century house, and the inevitable crowd of curious onlookers stood in small groups in the street and on the brick sidewalk. This time Luscious had remembered to put up the yellow police-barrier tape.

We pushed our way through and were met by Luscious, reeking of brandy, who led us into an elegant, high-ceilinged, blue-and-gold living room. The judge had been sitting in a leather chair at his desk. He’d fallen facedown on his green blotter. The ugly black stain on the blotter was blood, not ink. His right hand clutched a long-stemmed American-beauty rose. Behind him an open door led into a hallway. A large, formal dining room adjoined the living room.

Meredith Jones was already there and had declared the man dead.

Garnet asked him, “Any possibility it’s a suicide?”

Meredith slowly shook his head. He looked sad. “He’s got three nails driven into the back of his neck, right through the medulla oblongata. At least he died instantly, thank God.”

Garnet stared at Meredith in disbelief. “Nails? How on earth could someone just sit there and let someone hammer a nail into the base of their skull?”

‘’Battery-operated framing nailer,” I told him. “I saw one in use at the castle this morning. They were building a set for the Mystery Dinner.”

Garnet threw the doctor a questioning look.

Meredith nodded. “Quite likely she’s right. Fve seen some nasty accidents caused by those things. They shoot nails with the power of bullets.”

“Wouldn’t he have heard someone come up behind him?” I asked.

“Not if he had his hearing aid turned off.” Meredith checked the judge’s ear. “Yup, it’s off. It usually was. He always said people were too boring to listen to.”

“Who found him?” Garnet asked.

Luscious answered, “Tammy Zook. The Plain woman does his laundry. She was bringing his shirts back and got worried when he didn’t answer the doorbell. Said she always came at the same time, six-thirty on Thursday night, and he was always here to pay her. She tried the door, found it locked, and walked around on the porch to see if the kitchen door was open. It wasn’t, so she peeked in some windows to see if maybe he’d fallen down, and that’s when she saw him lying here. She went across the street to Mrs. O’Brien’s house and called me.”

“So all the doors were locked. How about the windows?”

“Everything was locked and bolted, Chief. I checked everything.”

“Great—a locked-room murder! Just what we need,” Garnet said sourly.

Nothing had been touched. Luscious had zealously guarded the house until his boss showed up, and now they set to work examining every inch of the room, carefully and methodically.

I had no desire to remain in that room of horror, so I went into the dining room to wait. Time passed slowly, and I wandered around looking at the paintings on the walls and the Canton china in the large corner cabinet. I opened a door and found a small pantry with another door leading into the kitchen. The strong odor of mold drifted through the cellar door, which was opened just a crack. The basement was as black as a starless night and smelled of evil.

I didn’t really want to go down there, but curiosity got the better of me. A string was dangling in front of me, and when I pulled it, the stairwell lit up. With light, it was less frightening, and I went down. I found just what I thought would be there, an old brick archway with a wooden door set in it, and a ladder that led down into a cave.

I went back upstairs and waited in the dining room. After a while, Luscious went outside to question the bystanders, and I heard Garnet snapping pictures. A half hour or so went by, then he opened the front door and gave a signal to the ambulance men, who came in with a stretcher and carried out the remains of Judge Parker.

Garnet, Luscious, and Meredith joined me in the dining room. I took Garnet by the hand and showed him the open basement door.

“There’s an open cave entrance down there,” I told him.

He told me to wait while he went downstairs. When he came back up, he cautioned me not to mention it to anyone else. We rejoined the others in the dining room.

“Anybody out there see or hear anything?” Garnet asked.

Luscious opened his notebook and flipped a few pages. “Mrs. O’Brien, who lives across the street, said when she went out on the porch about five o’clock to get her paper, she saw the judge get his and he waved to her. She went back outside to work in her garden at six. She likes to do yard work then, ‘ ‘cause it’s cooler.’ Anyway, she said she saw Rose Thorne coming out of the house about then.”

“Did she know it was Rose Thorne for sure?”

“Yes, sir, Chief. She even described her.” He read from the notebook, “ ‘Rose came out of the house looking very upset. I think she was crying because she had a handkerchief out and was wiping her eyes. She was wearing one of those pink dresses she likes. I recognized her right away because of that awful red hair. I don’t know why she doesn’t get a hairdresser who knows something about coloring hair.’ “

“Sounds like a positive ID,” Garnet acknowledged. “Did Mrs. O’Brien hear anything from the house? What the hell does a power nailer sound like, anyway?”

“Zing, zing, zing,” I said, keeping a straight face.

Luscious went on, “Nobody heard nothing, Chief. But it seems the power company was out cutting the tops off trees, and there was so much noise no one could hear anything except them chain saws.”

“Did you talk to the power company crew?”

“Yes, sir, Chief. They all saw an elderly red-haired woman coming out of the house. Uriah’s Heap picked her up while she was walking down the street. They didn’t see nobody else go in or come out.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “Rose just can’t be a murderess.”

Garnet said, “We already agreed she had the motive and opportunity to kill Richard.”

“Wrong. You suggested it. I didn’t agree.”

“And, she is left-handed.”

“So are lots of people,” I protested weakly.

“I think I’d better go talk to Rose.”

Our little procession, Garnet and I in his red truck, Luscious in the baby blue patrol car, and Meredith in his black Mercedes, arrived at Silverthorne in about twenty minutes. Praxythea, wearing black silk pajamas and an emerald green robe, opened the castle door in response to our ring. She was obviously surprised to see the four of us standing there.

“What is it?” she asked.

Garnet spoke. “We need to see Rose, please.”

“I think she’s in bed, Garnet.”

“Then you’ll have to get her up, Praxythea. You know I wouldn’t do this if it weren’t important.”

Sylvia joined us in the great hall. She had on a long-sleeved flannel nightgown and a tartan wool robe.

“What’s the meaning of this, Garnet?” Sylvia asked imperiously.

“I’ll tell you when Rose comes down. Is there anybody else here?”

Praxythea answered, “Just Michael and Briana. They decided to stay here instead of their cottage because Rose wasn’t feeling well.”

“Get them down here, too,” Garnet ordered.

From his tone of voice, Praxythea seemed to realize it was best not to argue and ran up the stone stairway to the second floor, presumably where the bedrooms were located.

“Let’s go into the library,” Garnet said when they had all come down. Michael and Briana were in matching white cotton pajamas and robes, Rose in a pink satin negligee that had seen many better days.

As they followed him down the gloomy hallway, I ducked into the large drawing room and flipped on the lights. As I expected, there was only one rose left in the crystal vase!

I turned the lights off and left, reaching the library just as Sylvia turned on a lamp. Praxythea had gone a little heavy on the Bellodgia tonight. The spicy perfume was making my eyes water.

I whispered in Garnet’s ear that another one of the roses was missing. He nodded slightly to show that he heard me but made no comment.

Garnet told them to sit down, and they did. Everyone looked sleepy and confused. According to the ormolu clock on the mantelpiece, it was well after midnight.

Garnet jumped right in with both feet. Looking at

Rose, he asked, “Miss Thorne, you visited Judge Parker this afternoon, did you not?”

She pressed both hands to her mouth in surprise. “How did you know?”

“You were seen coming out of his house. Can you tell me why you went there?”

“I’d rather not.”

“Why?”

“It’s personal, Garnet.”

“What condition was the judge in when you left, Miss Thorne?”

“Why do you keep calling me Miss Thorne, Garnet? We’ve been on a first-name basis for years.”

Garnet said patiently, “Please, just answer my question. What was his condition?”

“He was fine. My God, Garnet, are you telling me he’s sick?”

“I wish he were, Miss Thorne. Judge Parker is dead. He’s been murdered.”

Gasps of shock and dismay came from everyone in the room.

“Poor old man,” Michael said. “Other than boring us to tears for years, he never harmed anyone.”

Rose whimpered.

Garnet continued, “Now Miss Thorne, please tell me why you went to the judge’s house and what you talked about while you were there.”

Rose burst into tears, opened her mouth as if to speak, took a deep breath, and slid off her chair, unconscious.

Meredith was at her side instantly, feeling for her pulse.

“Way to go, Garnet,” he said angrily. “She’s just fainted. I’m putting her to bed, and no one is going to talk to her until I say it’s all right.” Rose’s eyes fluttered open, and she struggled to a sitting position. After a few minutes she was able to leave the room, leaning on Meredith’s arm.

Garnet looked miserable, and Sylvia took advantage of his discomfort to assume charge. “We have a lot of work to do tomorrow, cleaning, rehearsing downtown. I think we should all go to bed.”

I gasped in disbelief. “You mean you’re going to go ahead with the Rose Rent celebration and the Mystery Dinner after all this?”

“Judge Parker would have wanted it that way. After all, he was the president of the Historical Society. Preserving local tradition was the most important thing in his life. More important than personal relationships or …” Sylvia began to cry.

“Oh, hell. You’re going to find out sooner or later, so I might as well tell you now,” she said. “Judge Parker was Michael’s father!”