Read Arsenic and Old Puzzles Online
Authors: Parnell Hall
Arsenic and Old Puzzles (20 page)
“It said it was from the police department. I don’t remember the address, because I didn’t answer it.”
“What was the heading?” Dan said.
“Let me see. ‘Guilford aunt murdered.’”
“
Murdered
or
murder
?” Cora said.
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask me that?”
“It makes a huge difference.
Murdered
is specific. It means only one thing.
Murder
is open to interpretations.”
“I don’t remember. I thought it was
murdered
. It could have been
murder
. But when I read it, I thought it was my aunt.”
“So you hopped on a plane and came here?” Cora said.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you call first?”
“I didn’t have the number.”
“Come again?” Chief Harper said.
“What can I tell you? I don’t have it. It’s been years since I’ve seen them. Or my baby brother, for that matter.”
“You couldn’t call information?” Cora said.
“It’s unlisted.”
“They run an
unlisted
bed-and-breakfast?” Harper said, incredulously.
“I’m sure it’s listed. But not under their names. And I don’t know what they call it.”
“So you dropped everything and flew here from Seattle?”
“Of course I did. My aunts and I are not close, but a murder is a murder.”
“Do you have any experience with murder?”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Outside of the fact it’s your aunt. You’re not a police officer, are you?”
“No.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m an investment broker.”
“What does that mean?”
“I handle other people’s money.”
Chief Harper’s manner was not reassuring. He reacted to that announcement as if Sebastian had just admitted to scamming elderly widows out of their social security.
Seeing Sebastian was about to clam up, Cora butted in. “You can easily prove you had nothing to do with this. Do you happen to have your plane ticket?”
“No.”
“Or a copy of your itinerary?”
“No. I have no idea when I’m going back. I got a one-way ticket.”
“And you don’t have it?”
“I threw it away on the plane. Why do I need it? I got a carry-on. I didn’t check any baggage. Once I’m on the plane, it’s just a useless piece of paper.”
“You had to change planes.”
“Yes, I did. On the last one, I threw it out. You know why? Because I didn’t expect anyone to care.” Sebastian looked at Chief Harper. “My aunt’s been murdered, and the best you can do is suspect me? That’s not very encouraging.”
“No one suspects you. We’d like to eliminate you as a possibility. You show up here, unannounced, with a story that doesn’t hold water. You get all huffy when we point out where it doesn’t.”
“What do you mean, it doesn’t hold water?”
“You claim the police sent for you, but they didn’t, and you have no evidence that they did. You claim you just flew in from Seattle, but you got no evidence of that. Where’s your suitcase, by the way?”
“In my car.” He snapped his fingers. “There you go. My car. I rented it at the airport. Doesn’t that prove anything?”
“It proves you rented a car,” Cora said.
“Oh, come on.”
“You killed your aunt, drove up to the airport, put your car in the long-term parking lot, and rented a car.”
“And then I drive all the way back and deliver myself into the arms of the police, who never suspected me anyway. You’re saying that’s my plan?”
“I’m not saying it’s a
good
plan.”
“What about motive?” Harper said. “Do you profit from your aunt’s death?”
“No.”
“You’re sure about that? Suppose they both should die? Would you inherit this house?”
“I certainly hope not. I wouldn’t know what to do with it.”
“You could always sell it.”
“In this market? I’m not so sure they own it free and clear. There may be a bit of a mortgage.”
“I see you’ve given this some thought.”
“Not really. But when you ask the question, that’s my immediate reaction.”
“So you don’t expect to profit from their death?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You think Alan might? I mean, he’s here, he’s been ingratiating himself with them. Any chance they’d give the place to him and bypass you?”
“I suppose it’s possible. Frankly, I could care less.”
“But your brother might have a motive.”
“Alan might? Take a look at him. Can you imagine him killing anybody?”
“All right. You tell me. Can you think of anybody who’d want to hurt your aunt?”
Sebastian nodded. “Her sister, of course.”
Chief Harper gawked
in astonishment. “Edith Guilford?”
“That’s right.”
“Sweet little Edith Guilford?”
“She’s little, but she’s not so sweet. Not when you live with her. Why do you think I left? You think this was a dandy home? My God, those two women are enough to drive you nuts. Nice as can be, in front of other people. Alone? At each other all the time.”
“Interesting,” Cora said.
“Interesting?” Chief Harper said. “That’s not interesting. That’s absolutely incredible. I’ve known the Guilfords all my life.”
“Are you related to them? Not so nice in front of family. Vicious, vindictive, at each other’s throats.”
“Your brother doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Alan?” Sebastian laughed. “Alan may act that way. He’s got a lot of Guilford in him. You should hear him when he’s alone.”
“If he feels that way, why would he live there?”
“You have to ask? Free rent.”
“Nonsense. He has an apartment in the city.”
“Which will also turn out to be free rent. Some girl he lives with.”
Harper frowned.
“There is one, isn’t there?” Sebastian said. “See? Some things never change. Anyway, the way the sisters felt about each other, it was just a matter of time.”
“Well, that makes no sense. If Edith did this, she didn’t just kill her sister. She killed four other people.”
“So?”
“Why would she do that?”
Sebastian shrugged. “Isn’t that your department?”
“It’s your theory.”
“Yes, it is. You don’t have to like it.”
“But how can you think that, in the face of what’s happened?”
Sebastian chuckled, shook his head. “You expect me to defend it? I’m really not obligated to. But, okay, I’ll take a crack at it. She did it to cover up the crime.”
“The other people were killed first.”
“Okay, she did it for practice.”
“Now you’re just being facetious.”
“Well, it’s a stupid idea, you asking me for reasons. I was in Seattle this morning. You expect me to fly in here, solve your crime.”
“I don’t expect anything of the sort. You volunteered the suggestion. I’m trying to determine if it has any basis, or if you’re just a kook I can ignore.”
Sebastian smiled. “Fair enough.” He considered. “How about if she just killed her sister, you’d suspect her at once. So she kills some other people first, so when she kills her sister you don’t suspect her at all.”
Harper frowned.
“On the other hand, I’d look at baby brother. Particularly if he’s manipulated them into leaving everything to him.”
“He’d only inherit if he killed them both.”
“Maybe Edith’s dying. Maybe he found out. He’s got to kill Charlotte before Edith dies, because Edith would be easier to manipulate, particularly if she’s weakened. Whereas Charlotte would be more apt to dig in her heels. Oh, sure, she plays the weak and ditsy role, but trust me, she isn’t like that at all. Wasn’t. Hard to believe she’s gone. That type of woman tends to live forever.”
Harper turned to Cora. “You buying any of this?”
“I’m keeping an open mind.”
“That isn’t what I wanted to hear.”
“Okay, I’m keeping a closed mind.”
“Cora.”
“Let me ask a few questions here. When was the last time you saw your aunt?”
“I don’t know. Must be twenty, twenty-five years.”
“Same as your brother?”
“That’s right.”
“He must have been pretty young when you left.”
“He was old enough to know better. He
did
know better. He just didn’t have the guts.”
“You mean to leave?”
“I mean to do anything but go along. Passive, that’s what he was. Passive aggressive.”
“Have you kept track of your aunts in any way? I mean, how would you know they’re still alive?”
“I assume if they died I’d hear from their solicitor.”
“How do you know they have one?”
“I don’t. You’re asking me for assumptions.”
“If you don’t like your aunts, why did you come?”
“Are you kidding me?” Sebastian grinned. “It’s a murder.”
Edith Guilford was
still woozy from the sedative Barney Nathan had given her.
“Why are you waking me up?”
“We need to ask you some questions,” Chief Harper said.
“I’m too tired.”
“I know. I have to ask you nonetheless.”
“I don’t see why.”
“Do you know your sister’s dead?”
“You woke me up to ask me that? I thought you had something new.”
“How did you feel about your sister?”
“We were very close.”
“Didn’t you ever fight?”
“About what? Sometimes we argued about what TV channel to watch.”
“I thought you didn’t have TV,” Cora said.
“The guests don’t have TV. We do.”
“You said you hadn’t seen the report of the murders because you don’t have TV.”
“I meant we hadn’t watched.”
“But that’s not what you said. You said you hadn’t watched
because
you didn’t have one.”
“Did I say that? I don’t remember saying that. Maybe it was Charlotte. She made mistakes sometimes.”
“Like what?”
Edith didn’t answer.
“Like what?”
She shrugged. “Sometimes.”
Cora took a breath. “When Charlotte was missing, why didn’t you look in the window seat?”
Edith’s face contorted. “What a horrible idea. Why would I look in the window seat? I wouldn’t want Charlotte to be in the window seat. That’s just stupid. I wanted her to be somewhere I could find her.”
“But you thought something might have happened to her,” Chief Harper said.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you called me.”
“To find her. Not to look for her body.”
Edith dissolved into sobs.
Cora, watching carefully, couldn’t tell if she was faking. She wasn’t acting naturally, but then she’d been drugged.
“Snap out of it,” Cora said. “Your sister’s dead, and we’ve gotta find out who killed her. You want to help us, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Edith blubbered. “I guess so.”
“Who was closer to your nephew, you or Charlotte?”
“I don’t know.”
“Your nephew Alan. You don’t know who was closer?”
“No.”
“Who did he like better?”
Edith looked at Cora, then at Chief Harper. “Why is she doing this?”
“I’m trying to sort out the relationships,” Cora said. “Because it’s the only way to figure out what happened here. I want to find out who killed your sister, so I’m asking personal questions. I know they’re difficult. So you don’t know who Alan liked better?”
“No.”
“How about Sebastian?”
Edith looked like she’d been slapped in the face. Her mouth fell open. Her eyes shifted. It took her a few moments to pull herself together. When she did, she seemed more focused than before. She waved her finger. “You mustn’t believe a word he says.”
“Why?”
“He lies.”
“About what?”
“Everything. Every word out of his mouth is a lie. He’s always been that way, ever since he was a little boy.”
“You never mentioned you had another nephew,” Harper said.
“Why should I? He’s an embarrassment. Better forgotten. You spoke to him on the phone?”
“No.”
“No? Who did? I should warn them. This is very bad. Who did he speak to?”
“Actually he spoke to both of us,” Cora said.
“Oh?” Edith’s eyes widened in alarm. “Oh! You mean he’s here?”
“Yes, he is.”
Her face hardened, her jaw snapped shut in a firm line. “He did it! I might have known. Back to kill us, after all these years.”
“I don’t think so,” Harper said. “Apparently he was in Seattle at the time of the crime.”
“Can he prove it? I suppose he mocked up some phony evidence to make it look like he was in Seattle, but, trust me, he wasn’t. Oh, my God! You have to protect me from him. It’s a wonder he didn’t kill us both.”
“Sebastian seems to feel his baby brother was to blame for a lot of the things he got blamed for.”
“Of course he does. He’s always tried to put it off on Alan. He’s here. Where is he?”
“Right outside.”
“Don’t let him in! Don’t let him get to me! Arrest him! Put him in jail!”
“I can’t arrest him.”
“Why not? You’re the police. That’s what you do. Arrest people.”
“He hasn’t done anything.”
“That’s what you think. If he’s here, he’s done something. And he’s been here from the beginning, and he’s killed all those people, and I should have known it but it’s been so long I just didn’t think of it and I had no idea he was around.”
Edith sprang up and began to pace the room. In spite of the drugs she’d been given, she was pretty steady on her feet. “It’s too much! It’s too much! After all these years, he’s back, devil himself, to kill my sister! I hate him, I hate him! It’s been so long I thought he was dead. I
hoped
he was dead! Oh, forgive me, I wish he were dead!”
Harper lowered his voice, said out of the side of his mouth, “She going to need another sedative. You think Barney’s home?”
“I wouldn’t count on it.”
Sherry was up
with the baby when Cora got home. She was walking the floor of her bedroom, joggling Jennifer on her shoulder.
“Colic,” Sherry said. “Just a little colicky, she’ll quiet down soon.”