Dying for a Change (6 page)

“
We went over that in real estate school but I don’t remember exactly. I think, though, if it’s something as serious as fraud, you never get it back. Besides, fraud could mean jail, couldn’t it?”

She frowned again before she started to vigorously shake her head. “No. Ray couldn’t have done it.”

“
No guts?” I suggested.

She looked startled, then started to laugh. “That wasn’t what I was thinking, but you’ve got a point.”

“
How about Tom Chambers?” I slowly munched another cookie and watching her closely.

“
Why? Because of Nicole? I don’t think so. Tom was irritated with Hank, but that’s not a motive for murder.”

“
I’m told Tom has a pretty hot temper.” I let a hint of a question come through.

Aunt Mary looked exasperated. “People in this town gossip way too much.”

“
But does he?” I pressed.

“
Have a temper?” She looked at me with a little set to her chin. “I’ve know Tom Chambers and his family for years. He’s a good boy, and now he’s grown up, he controls himself just fine.”

That wasn’t much of an answer and I tried again.

“
Maybe so, but jealousy can do strange things to people.”

“
Why would Tom be jealous of Hank? He knew Nicole wasn’t interested in him. If you think jealousy’s a motive, then Dottie Fielding’s a suspect.”

I had been thinking about another cookie but that got my attention, fast. “Not Dottie Fielding, our office secretary? What does she have to do with Hank?”

Aunt Mary didn’t answer. Instead she picked up the almost empty cookie plate, went to the same cookie jar she’d had when I was a child, started to lift the lid, then turned to me and said, “Would you rather have coffee cake?”

“
No, nothing.” I waved the plate away. “All right, coffee then. What about Dottie?”

She didn’t reply. Instead, she took a cloth and started to polish the old stove. “I’m never going to buy a stove with a griddle on it again. You just can’t keep them clean.”

“
You’re never going to buy a new stove, and you might as well give up trying to change the subject and tell me.” I watched her shoulders tighten, then went on. “You brought it up, and I’m not going to let it drop.”

“
I didn’t mean to,” she said, her back still turned away from me.

“
Probably true, but you did, so tell me.”

She sat back down, pulled her coffee mug toward her, poured cream into it and stirred. “I hate gossip.” She picked up the mug, drank, made a face and put it down. “It’s cold,” she said, accusingly.

I didn’t say anything, just waited.

“
Oh, all right. That’s what Pat came for, to see if I thought we should do something.” She broke off, and looked at me as if she had explained it all. Sure.

“
Do something about what?” Now I was the one exasperated. The time was slipping by but I wanted to know about Dottie.

Aunt Mary sighed, in defeat I hoped. “Pat belongs to the Little Theater group,” she began slowly.

“
I know,” I said, hoping to hurry this along. “So?”

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So does Dottie.” Aunt Mary sighed. “So did Hank Sawyer.”

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And?” I wondered if I was beginning to see.

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Hank had lately been paying a lot of attention to Dottie. Whispering, pulling her off to the side, even took her home the other night.”

“
What about his wife?”

“
Vera hated the theater group.”

Vera had my sympathy. “I thought Hank was famous for chasing women. What’s so strange about him chasing Dottie?” I pictured Dottie in my mind and had the answer to my question.

“
Hank liked pretty women.” Aunt Mary’s lips pursed. “Like Nicole.” She looked at me critically, “or even you.”

Gee, thanks, I thought, but got her point. “Dottie’s a mouse. A dowdy mouse. I can’t believe she even had the courage to join a theater group.”

“
She doesn’t act.” Aunt Mary sounded horrified at the thought Dottie might be asked to get up on a stage and say something. “She does all the other stuff, sews costumes, types scripts, paints scenery, that kind of thing.”

“
So why was Pat worried?

“
Jealousy. Dottie’s never had a man pay attention to her since she was jilted by her fiancé years ago. Pat was worried that she might have taken Hank seriously. Hank was getting older. Not so many women wanted to play. Maybe he found Dottie an easy — an empty house on a quiet Sunday afternoon would be a good place for a, ah, private meeting. If Dottie envisioned a, well, more permanent relationship, and Hank made it clear he had no intention of leaving Vera, just maybe...”

“
You’re not serious.” I sounded incredulous. I was. “Dottie?”

“
She wouldn’t be the first woman in history,” Aunt Mary said grimly.

I pictured various scenarios and started to nod slowly. “Jealousy,” I said, “or maybe--wait a minute. If jealousy’s a motive, how about his wife? It sounds like she has the best motive of all.”

“
I’d thought about that,” Aunt Mary said, “but Vera’s pretty small. I’m not sure she could have done what you described.”

“
Sure she could,” I said, confident I could pin Hank’s murder onto a woman I’d never seen. “If she hit him with the brick and knocked him out, she could have easily dragged him into the closet on the tarp. It didn’t take strength to finish him off, just determination.”

Aunt Mary shuddered. “That’s horrible. No, I don’t think Vera has the temperament.”

I wasn’t so sure. I’d been married to a man who cheated on me and there had been a time or two when banging Brian on the head with a brick would have been tempting.

I looked at the clock. “I’ve got to be back at the office by eleven, but there are a couple of other things I want to ask you.”

“
Why eleven?”

“
Because I have to go to the police station and give a statement. Dan Dunham’s picking me up.”

“
Dan is, is he.” She said that softly with a little smile.

“
Yes, he is. Why didn’t you tell me he was back in town? Do you know what a shock it was to see him yesterday?” I gritted my teeth. All my pent up frustration, divorce, moving home, finding a dead body, finding Dan, was in my voice.

“
I was going to. Dan wanted to come by and see you. Only, I thought you needed a little time. You’ve had a lot of adjusting to do the last few months. I told him to wait. I couldn’t know you’d stumble on a body and Dan at the same time.” She sounded defensive, which was good. That meant she was sorry. Maybe.

“
What’s he doing back here, anyway? Last time I saw him, he was going to major in history and teach at Harvard, or somewhere.”

“
He met a girl and got married instead.” Aunt Mary watched me closely. “Changed his major, and joined the San Francisco police.”

I barely heard the last part, but the girl and married rang through loud and clear.

“
Oh,” That acme out rather faintly. “Do they have a family?”

“
They did.” Aunt Mary hadn’t taken her eyes off me. It was almost as if she was trying to gauge how I would take what she was going to say nest. “Dan’s wife and son were killed by a drunk driver a few years ago. It was after that he came back here, to become our Chief of Police, and Santa Louisa’s most eligible bachelor.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but not that. “Oh,” I said. Then, “oh.” I thought about Susannah and how devastated I would be to lose her. “How terrible. Poor Dan.”

“
He went through a pretty bad time.” Aunt Mary nodded in agreement. “He’s perked up some this last year. I think coming home to Santa Louisa was good for him.”

I hoped it would have the same therapeutic effect on me. I too had lost a mate, only in my case it had been willingly, and I still had my child. I glanced at the clock, and pushed back my chair.

“
I’d better get moving. Chief Dunham said he’d be at the office by eleven and I’ll just make it.” I said. “I wonder if he’ll tell me what’s going on.”

“
Don’t count on it,” Aunt Mary warned me.

“
You mean he’s not going to fill me in on why Hank had that list of people in his pocket and what the latest word on the street is about Stop N Shop?” I threw that in teasingly, all the while thinking of Dan and his loss, not Dan the policeman. I was startled when Aunt Mary said sharply, “What list? What about Stop N Shop?”

“
Didn’t I tell you?” I was halfway to the door, but turned to find a worried expression on her face.

“
You didn’t say anything about Stop N Shop.” There was a frown on her face and more than a little concern in her voice. “What does that store have to do with any of this?”

With one eye on the clock I told her about the list, that Hank and Sharon were some of the investors in the land, and Benjamin Lockwood had attacked Hank.

“
I knew about the investment group.” Aunt Mary nodded a little. “Sharon wanted me to put money in that when she formed it. I turned her down. Shows how smart I am. But, Benjamin. Well, I guess it doesn’t surprise me.” She said that with a definite sniff. “Benjamin’s always been over the edge, and since Rose died, he’s been impossible. He’s the one responsible for the uproar this town’s in over that store. Telling folks how change is going to ruin their lives, run them out of business, destroy the downtown. The man’s possessed.”

“
Will it ruin the downtown?” An image of our lovely tree shaded town, with its quiet shops, and leisurely foot traffic rose to greet me, and I wondered if Benjamin had a point.

“
I’ve no idea, and neither does Benjamin,” Aunt Mary said, “but I do know you’re going to be late.”

One look at the clock proved her right. “Uh oh.” I gave her a wave, and ran for the screen door.

“
Don’t let it...” Aunt Mary called. Too late. It slammed shut. I grinned as I hurried down the sidewalk. Some things don’t change.

The office was in an uproar. Sharon was ranting about something and didn’t pause when I came in the door. Dottie sat immobile at her desk, looking petrified, and Tom and Nicole stood behind Sharon, evidently trying not to laugh. Ray Yarbourough was in Sharon’s office doorway, shaking his finger, trying to talk over her.

“
I told you that old man was crazy,” he said loudly. “Trying to get on the Planning Commission. I thought anybody’d be better than Hank, but not him. You better get over there, Sharon, and put a stop to it.”

“
What does it look like I’m doing?” Sharon pushed at him. “But I can’t do anything until you get your finger out of my face.”

Ray stepped back, Sharon edged past him, almost ran me down on her way to the door, and rushed out.

“
Who’s trying to get on the Planning Commission? Where is Sharon going?” I asked the room at large. “What’s going on?”

“
Benjamin Lockwood stormed in here a few minutes ago.” Tom grinned wildly and pushed his glasses back up on his nose. “He was yelling and screaming, arms going a mile a minute.”

“
He looked like a windmill.” Nicole laughed out loud.

“
He looked crazy.” Dottie’s eyes were large and her hand trembled a little as she fiddled with a pencil.

“
What did he want?” They hadn’t explained a thing.

“
To tell Sharon he’s going to take Hank’s seat on the Planning Commission,” Ray said grimly, “and that he plans to vote so many restrictions on building a new store that Stop N Shop will give up considering this town.” He glared at Tom and Nicole. “And I don’t think that’s funny.”

“
Can he do that?” I asked Ray, cutting off a remark that Tom seemed about to make. His grin had turned to a scowl and he’d taken a step forward.

“
I don’t know.” Ray looked past me to scowl right back at Tom. “That’s why Sharon’s on her way to city hall, to make sure he doesn’t get appointed.”

“
I’m sorry.” I looked at each of them and shook my head. “I still don’t understand. Who cares who is on the Planning Commission, and what does that have to do with us? Or Hank? Or anything?”

It was Dottie, quiet little Dottie, who answered. “The Planning Commission is divided almost evenly between those who want Stop N Shop to come, and those who don’t. The land is zoned for that kind of store, but if the Commission loads the Stop N Shop people down with lots of expensive conditions, like having to pay for the new bridge and all the stoplights, they may not come. If Benjamin gets on, he’ll push for those conditions and kill the deal.”

I was beginning to see. “So will Sharon try to get on instead of Benjamin?”

“
If she’s smart, she will.” Ray said, fingering the gold chain around his neck. The small diamond in his pinkie ring flashed, and he moved his hand around so it flashed again, right in my eye. I moved my head and pretended not to notice.

“
Sharon can’t be on the Commission.” Dottie brought my attention abruptly away from Ray and his jewelry. “It wouldn’t be ethical.”

“
Why not.” Ray’s smug smile faded and he stuck out his jaw a little. “We need that store, and Sharon should do whatever it takes.”

“
Dottie’s right.” Tom pushed his glasses even further up on his nose and eyed Ray with distaste. “It would be a conflict of interest.”

“
How?” I wondered where all the animosity had so suddenly come from. And, why?