5 Murder by Syllabub (10 page)

“Don’t even think about it,”
she said as she advanced into the room. “That Leo isn’t going to arrest Elizabeth. Syllabub or no syllabub, there’s not a shred of evidence against her. Why would there be? She didn’t kill that little weasel. I brought baked oatmeal. None of you would have eaten a bite otherwise. Did you know Calvin’s here? One of you had better get out there pretty soon or he’ll whack down every living plant we’ve got left. I’d do it, but that man won’t listen to me.”

Who was this woman who so obviously knew every inch of the kitchen? Tall and slender, she showed her age only by the
fine lines around her upper lip and eyes and the parchment thin brown skin on her hands. Her black hair was cut short, framing an elegantly shaped skull and showing off huge brown eyes and high cheekbones. She gave off an air of confidence and competency as she opened the oven door, unwrapped the casserole dish, slid it in, and set the dial that operated the oven and the timer.

I felt Aunt Mary’s desire to get up and
watch the woman work. Cooking on a Wolf stove had been a lifelong dream and she was clearly determined to find an opportunity during our visit.

“Mildred, you really didn’t need to bring breakfast.” Elizabeth’s voice faded to
a whisper under the glare of the black woman.

“If I hadn’t, would you have eaten? Cora Lee would eat a half piece of toast if she thought of it and maybe a couple of bites of yogurt, and you’d just have another cup of coffee.” She headed for the refrigerator and reached for the door. “You wouldn’t even get juice
…” She stopped and stared at the bottom shelf. “I thought so.”

Mildred. Noah’s mother. Had to be. Aunt Mary pushed her chair back and walked to the refrigerator. I followed. Layers of yellow liquid and whipped cream were visible through the clear glass.

“Is that it?” Aunt Mary pointed to it.

“That’s it.”

“It’s pretty with those layers. Only, it doesn’t look disturbed.”

Elizabeth was right behind us. “It looks just like it did when I put it in there.”

Cora Lee hadn’t moved. “It would. The lemon wine stuff sinks to the bottom again after you dip some out and you’d never be able to tell any was taken.”

I bent down to get a better look. “So looking at what’s in this bowl doesn’t prove anything one way or another?”

“It proves you people weren’t very upfront with us poor police last night.”

I jumped back
, almost banging my head on the refrigerator door.

Noah stood in the middle of the kitchen. “I smelled baked oatmeal and I’m starved. Calvin’s here. I thought he was supposed to spade up the garden and get it ready for planting.” He walked over to the refrigerator, looked in the open the door and sighed. “We’re going to have to tell the lieutenant, you know.”

“I don’t see why.” The mulish look was back on Cora Lee’s face.

Why was she so set on not letting Lt. McMann know about the
syllabub? Because she thought it would incriminate Elizabeth?

“Cora Lee, we have no choice. Besides, they’re not going to find anything in that bowl that shouldn’t be there. I doubt whoever killed Monty wanted to wipe out the whole Smithfield family. That’s what would have happened if he, or she, poisoned the whole bowl.” The
impatience in Noah’s voice was becoming more evident with each sentence.

“The
syllabub in Monty’s glass was poisoned. It had to be.” Cora Lee’s eyes narrowed to slits and I watched her jaw tighten.

“That’s probably true, but it doesn’t mean it’s in the bowl. It was probably put in his glass.” Leave it to Aunt Mary to be practical.

Cora Lee leaned forward. “Maybe the syllabub in his glass didn’t come from that bowl.”

Everyone in the kitchen looked at her. No one said a word.

She shrugged. “Guess I’m stretching it on that one.”

Noah closed the refrigerator door and turned to face us. Max came to sit beside him. We were about to get a lecture. Noah had the same look on his face Dan got when he thought either Susannah or I was
about to get mixed up in something he wasn’t going to like.

“Lieutenant McMann will be here shortly. He’s got some more questions, especially for Elizabeth. The crime scene people will probably need to take your fingerprints.”

“I won’t be here.” Elizabeth walked back toward the now empty coffeepot and proceeded to rinse it out. “Another pot, everyone?”

The timer rang. Mildred headed for the stove. “Oatmeal’s done. Cora Lee, you get the bowls. Noah, step away from that refrigerator. We need milk, and I think a little orange juice would be nice. Mary, glasses are in the cupboard there.”

Noah didn’t get to start his lecture until everyone was at the table, toast had been served and coffee cups refilled.

“You’re going to have to face the fact there aren’t a lot of options here. Monty was found dead in a locked house, having drunk, we think,
syllabub, a drink that isn’t readily available, and there absolutely wasn’t any in that old house. There was, however, a whole bowlful of said drink in the refrigerator in this house.”

“We get the picture,” Mildred said

Noah glanced at his mother but picked up the pace. “That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room. Lieutenant McMann has no choice but to suspect someone who has free access to this refrigerator. That means every one of us in this room.” He stopped and looked at Aunt Mary and me. “Not you two, but the rest of us, and particularly you, Elizabeth.” All spoons went down into bowls and three pairs of eyes stared at him. “It’s no secret Monty was giving you a hard time.”

“This is absolutely ridiculous.” Cora Lee
’s cheeks were flushed. Eyes narrowed, she pushed her bowl away and glared at Noah.

“Don’t get mad at me.” Noah leaned forward a little, as if to emphasi
ze his point. “It’s hard to get in and out of locked houses unless you have the key. Currently the only keys we know of are Elizabeth’s and, I assume, Cora Lee’s. Mom and I have a set as well, given to us by Cora Lee after she had the locks changed. Narrows the field somewhat, doesn’t it? None of us liked Monty, but it was Elizabeth he was harassing. McMann knows that, and he’s going to worry it for all it’s worth.” He reached over and put his hand on Elizabeth’s arm. “I’m not trying to scare you, or any of you, just warn you it’s not going to be too much fun around here for a while. McMann’s going to be here soon.” He paused, which gave additional weight to his next words. “They found something in Monty’s glass. They’re not sure what it is yet, but it’s something that doesn’t belong there. The autopsy will be performed this morning and the docs are going to look for poison.” He sighed, sat back and ran his hand over his short-cropped hair. “Somehow, I think the ghost you claim was prowling around here is going to be a hard sell.” He stopped again and looked at his mother, who sat rigid, lips tightly pursed, then at Cora Lee, who was still flushed with anger, and finally at Elizabeth. “We have a witness who says Monty was putting a lot of pressure on you to sell him Smithwood at a discounted price. It that true?”

It wasn’t hard to tell Elizabeth would rather be boiled in oil than talk about it, but she didn’t have much choice. “You think I killed him so he’d go away and stop bothering me? Your snitch has it wrong. Monty didn’t want to
buy
Smithwood. He wanted me to
give
it to him. He said I could take a little of the cash, or some stock, but he wanted the plantation and everything on it. He wanted me out. If I didn’t do as he wanted, he’d take me to court and tie everything up until I either ran out of money defending myself or ran out of life. Whichever came first. That was how he put it.”

Noah didn’t say anything for a moment. Neither did anyone else. Aunt Mary caught her breath. What Elizabeth said made her motive to permanently remove Monty seem
more than plausible. Elizabeth shouldn’t be talking about this. The police weren’t dumb. It would take them no time at all to realize Elizabeth could have presented Monty with that glass before she left. I had a quick vision of Elizabeth flying into the airport waiting room, late. Then, according to Aunt Mary, she was always late. I didn’t think Elizabeth could murder anyone. She saved things—trees, whales, salmon, streams—and if she decided to get rid of Monty, it wouldn’t have been with poison. The police might not see it that way. Cora Lee. She was here. Could she have offered Monty that drink? Why? She didn’t own Smithwood. Why didn’t she? Had she already gotten her inheritance? Then there were the Longos. What motive could they have? It all came back to Elizabeth. Wait! Someone else had been there. The person with the candle. That wasn’t Elizabeth. Only, the police would only have my word, Aunt Mary’s and Cora Lee’s that we saw a light. I looked over at Cora Lee, then at Mildred. From the expressions on their faces, I knew they were thinking the same thing.

Noah stared at Elizabeth. “So, it’s true. Monty really did think he’d end up with Smithwood.” He sighed and looked at his mother. Something passed between them, some communication I couldn’t follow. I glanced around but no one else seemed to have noticed.

“Monty was a fool. He’d never have gotten Smithwood.” Cora Lee looked up from mashing her oatmeal to glare at Noah and his mother. “Not while I had breath in my body.”

I almost choked on my oatmeal. Did Cora Lee realize what she’d said? Evidently not. She went on mashing. There were a lot of things going on around here I
hadn’t begun to understand, but first I had to get Elizabeth to shut up. Also Cora Lee. I didn’t know if that last statement made her a suspect as well, but it made it clear there was no love lost between her and Monty. Anger still blazed in those pale blue eyes. It showed in the pile of crumbs she’d made of a piece of toast. Cora Lee. She was here when we arrived and had been for some time. She’d made salad. She could easily have found time to invite Monty to share a glass of syllabub with her. It seemed likely she would have removed her glass, not so much to protect herself as to protect the glass. She wouldn’t want any heavy-handed policeman dropping Smithwood treasures.

“Lieutenant McMann will be back out this morning. You might want to think about getting an attorney.”

Elizabeth turned white. “Why do I need an attorney? I didn’t kill the little creep. If I’d known he was even on the property, I’d have taken him by the scruff of the neck and pitched his rear end off.” She paused for a breath and glared at Noah. “As for Lieutenant McMann, he didn’t tell me he was coming back. I have an appointment and I intend to keep it. If he wants to talk to me, let him call and we’ll arrange a convenient time.”

Elizabeth’s jaw snapped shut. Her gray eyes lost their soft
expression and took on the hardness of agates. I glanced over at Aunt Mary, who sighed and shrugged. She’d seen that look before. Lt. McMann just might not get his interview.

“Did anyone else know you made
syllabub, Elizabeth?”

“What?”
My question took her by surprise. It seemed to have startled the rest of them also.

“What do you mean?” Cora Lee set her cup down
with a little too much force. “Why would that matter? Oh.”

“Exactly. Noah said we would all be under suspicion because we knew about the
syllabub. That seems a rather narrow view. Usually you need a little more reason to suspect someone of murder, but still, someone else had to know that bowl was there.”

“A
narrow view.” Noah looked like he might start laughing. “I’ve never heard it put quite so delicately, but you’ve got a point.”

“Humph. Leo McMann would be more than
ready to throw us all in jail with less evidence than that.”

I almost asked Cora Lee what all the enmity was between Lt. McMann and the Smithwoods but
first, I needed an answer to another question. “Elizabeth, who else knew you made syllabub?”

She
appeared to think back. “I met Hattie in the grocery store. She commented on the lemons and the cream.”

“That’s not much help,” Cora Lee snapped. “Who else did you tell?”

Elizabeth sighed. “Monty knew.”

“Monty!” Cora Lee stiffened. “How would he know?”

“I told him.” Elizabeth’s voice was mild but her eyes flashed. I doubted the conversation had been a pleasant one.

“He called to ask if I’d thought over his offer. Offer! I told him I couldn’t talk, I was leaving to go to the airport to pick up a friend, and besides, I’d already given him my answer.”

“When did you tell him about the syllabub?” Mildred seemed puzzled, as well she might. It didn’t sound like a conversation about a dessert drink.

“I didn’t. He brought it up. Asked if I’d made some
, like I always did for company. Told me to save him a glass. I told him to get lost and hung up.”

There was silence around the table, broken only by Petal’s whine. Elizabeth absent
-mindedly handed her a piece of toast. She immediately took it to the safety of the wingback chair and growled at Max as she devoured it.

Mildred was the first to break the silence. “Whoever was with Monty didn’t have to know about the
syllabub. Monty could have, and probably did, fill both glasses.”

“I think they knew.”

We all turned to stare at Aunt Mary. “Why do you say that?