Last Puzzle & Testament (26 page)

It was nearly three-thirty and the Wicker Basket wasn’t crowded. Rick Reed and Becky Baldwin sat at a table by the window. The camera crew, who had obviously eaten earlier, sat at a table in the back, sipping coffee and looking bored and grumpy, probably due to the fact that the restaurant didn’t serve beer.

Aaron escorted Cora and Sherry to a table across the room.

A waitress appeared with menus. “Lunch?” she asked.

“It’s too early for dinner, isn’t it?” Cora said.

“The dinner menu starts at five.”

“Then it’s lunch,” Cora decided. “Bring me a martini or a cup of coffee.”

“I’ll have coffee too,” Aaron said.

“Decaf,” Sherry said.

“One decaf, two regular.”

“You always have to be healthy?” Aaron asked, as the waitress retreated.

“I don’t want to talk about coffee,” Sherry said.

“Oh, why not?”

“I’m just wondering what we’re doing here.”

“We’re having lunch.”

“We’re not spying on Becky Baldwin?”

“Heaven forbid,” Aaron said. “Of course, if there was a story, I’m a little hamstrung not being able to write about
you.
”

“Your interest in Becky Baldwin is
professional?
”

“I hate getting scooped by TV in general, and
him
in particular.”

“Gee. Maybe we should have sat closer so we could listen in.”

“Kids, kids,” Cora said. “Quit squabblng and look at the menu.”

“I know what I’m having,” Sherry said. “A BLT on white toast, hold the mayo.”

“You on a diet?” Aaron said.

“Nonsense,” Cora said. “If she were on a diet, she’d hold the bacon.”

“Oh, and what are you having?” Sherry said.

“Well, the diet plate looks good,” Cora said, “if I were a rabbit. I’m thinking of the make-your-own omelet with cheddar cheese, onions, and peppers. What about you, Aaron?”

“I’ve eaten.”

They turned on him.

“So you
are
just spying on Becky Baldwin?” Sherry demanded.

Cora waggled her finger. “If you start bickering, there’s no dessert. Ah, thank you,” she added to the waitress, who slid coffee in front of them. “I’ll be having a cheddar cheese omelet with onions and peppers, and she’ll be having a BLT on white toast, hold the mayo. He’s just having coffee.”

“And an oatmeal cookie,” Aaron said.

“So what are we really doing here?” Sherry demanded, as the waitress moved away.

“I would call it damage control,” Aaron said. “With all due apologies, Cora, throwing Becky Baldwin to the media may not be the best idea, at least as far as I’m concerned. As Daniel Hurley’s attorney, she knows more than I do. At least, more than I’m allowed to know. And if she wants to spill it to the TV people instead of to me, I don’t like that. I got a big enough handicap as it is.”

“And how are you going to control that?” Cora said.

“I don’t know,” Aaron replied. “We’re sitting here having lunch, not invading anybody’s space. We’re across the room, not trying to eavesdrop.” He jerked his thumb. “But if that crew gets up, that’s something else again. The minute they point the camera, Becky and Rick are fair game. It’s not a private conversation anymore, it’s the news. And I’ll step right up next to the camera and listen.”

From outside came the growl of a motorcycle. It grew louder, then coughed, sputtered, and died. A minute later Daniel Hurley came banging in the screen door. He stood in the doorway, glanced around the room. Scowled at the sight of Becky Baldwin and Rick Reed. He stomped over to their table, and, in a voice loud enough to be heard across the room, said, “Hi, Becky. Who’s he?”

Becky said, “Daniel, this is Rick Reed from Channel 8 News.”

Daniel Hurley pursed his lips, cocked his head. Hesitated.

Sherry Carter smiled. She could practically see his thought process. The media. How did Daniel Hurley want to relate to the media? Clearly, his anti-establishment rebel image, typified by the long hair and the motorcycle, practically demanded that he look down on TV crews with contempt.

But for a young man as arrogant as Sherry Carter judged Daniel Hurley to be, it was hard to pass up a chance to be on television.

“Is that so?” he said to Becky, playing it cool. “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing they’re talking to you instead of someone who will give them the wrong idea. If you will just excuse me a moment.”

Daniel Hurley turned and walked across the room to Sherry, Cora, and Aaron’s table. “So,” ;So,he said. “Everybody’s having a late lunch?”

“It’s a busy day,” Cora said.

“That it is,” Daniel Hurley agreed. “And we’ll be moseying over to the lawyer’s soon, and you’ll be giving me another piece of Auntie’s puzzle. Or shouldn’t I be saying that in front of the newshound?”

“You can say anything you like,” Aaron said agreeably.

“Only it’ll wind up in print?”

“I
am
hard-pressed for a story.”

“Aaron, don’t,” Sherry said. “No, he’s not reporting this, Daniel. Why don’t you say what you have in mind?”

Daniel Hurley grinned. “Oh, is that how it is?” he said to Aaron. “She tells you what to do?”

“No,” Aaron said. He added, pointedly, “She’s not my lawyer.”

Daniel Hurley frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Boys, boys,” Cora said. “If you’re going to fight, please, wait till they set up the cameras.”

In spite of themselves, both Aaron and Daniel looked toward the camera crew. The men were still sipping coffee, but they were definitely watching the exchange. So were Rick Reed and Becky Baldwin. So was the waitress, for that matter.

Daniel Hurley smiled, pushed the hair off his face. “I don’t want to start an argument, I just want to talk to the judge.”

“Me?” Cora Felton said innocently. “What do you want now?”

“I want a clarification. On the rules. That’s your job, isn’t it?”

“My job is what I judge it to be,” Cora shot back. “You got a problem with the rules, you can bring it up. That doesn’t mean you’re going to get any satisfaction.”

“No, but I should get an answer,” Daniel said. “A judge can’t simply say I don’t know.”

“Oh, yeah?” Cora Felton said. “You should talk to Melvin.”

“Who’s Melvin?”

“My fifth husband. By the end of the marriage, anything he asked me, I said I don’t know.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Daniel Hurley was impatient. “Look, I got a question for you. After what you said this morning, about checking your answers, I went over to the library to look up the Tibetan town. You know the Applegates are practically living there? And they got this kid helping them. Is that allowed?”

“A kid?”

“Yeah. The boy who works there.”

“Jimmy Potter?” Cora said. “He’s working on the puzzle?”

“Well, he’s looking stuff up. Is he allowed to do that?”

“It’s his job,” Cora said.

Daniel Hurley scowled. “That’s no answer.”

“I shall withhold a ruling. It’s early yet. You’ve only done half the puzzle.” Cora cocked her head. “Can I assume you’ve completed the second section?”

“You mean have I been down to the post office like everybody else?”

“Post office?” Aaron Grant said.

“Aw, gee,” Daniel Hurley said. “Wasn’t I supposed to say that? Yeah, I had to mail a letter, I went down to the post office. Wouldn’t you know it, Philip and Ethel had already been there. That was a while ago, so I can’t speak for the others.”

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to do that,” Cora said.

“Agreed?” Daniel’s smile was haughty. “I don’t recall agreeing to anything. I recall certain suggestions. It would appear no one’s taking them.”

“Is that so?” Cora said. “You realize as the judge I have the right to disqualify anyone who doesn’t follow the rules?”

Daniel Hurley grinned. “You’re gonna disqualify us all? Who gets the money then?”

“I thought you didn’t care about the money,” Sherry put in.

“Did I ever say that? I will admit in the beginning I thought the game was dumb, I thought I had no chance to win. But, to tell you the truth, it’s not so much I’d like to win the money as I’d like to keep any of
them
from winning it. That’s the thing about my family. There’s a real pleasure in rubbing it in.”

A thought struck him. He smiled in satisfaction. “In fact, that’s an excellent idea. It will drive them crazy. I can taunt them on camera. They won’t be able to do a thing about it. It will drive them wild.”

Much to Sherry Carter’s amusement, Daniel Hurley had hit on a way to justify appearing on TV. Sherry couldn’t help smiling as Daniel went back over to Rick Reed and Becky Baldwin to reluctantly agree to an interview.

“I’m making a ruling,” Cora Felton said. She stood at the front of the table next to Arthur Kincaid, as if to allow the lawyer’s authority to lend weight to her pronouncement, and surveyed the assembled heirs. Philip and Ethel Hurley, Phyllis and Morton Applegate, and Daniel Hurley were present. Also on hand were Sherry Carter, Aaron Grant, and Becky Baldwin. Chester Hurley was conspicuous by his absence. So was Chief Harper. Cora was glad. It was a comfort, for once, to begin the meeting without an official police report.

Particularly when she planned to get tough.

Cora drew herself up, tucked in her chin. “It has come to my attention that a number of you showed up at the second location mentioned in the puzzle, in spite of my admonition this morning not to do so. It has been pointed out to me that that was a suggestion, not a ruling.” Cora pulled her glasses down on her nose, peered over them. “It is now a ruling. Please take note. In a few moments I will be handing out the third piece of Emma’s puzzle. In it is a clue for a ten-letter word. Any of you who show up at any location suggested by that clue are hereby disqualified from playing the game. You will not be given the last piece of the puzzle, and you will be ineligible to receive the bulk of Emma Hurley’s estate.”

This statement was greeted by howls of protest.

“Oh, now look here,” Phyllis Applegate sputtered. “You’ve got no right to do that.”

“Actually, she does,” Arthur Kincaid said. “Emma Hurley gave her that right in her will. What she’s doing here is reasonable. And it’s for your own good. If it will not help you, you shouldn’t waste your time doing it. So don’t. Is that clear?”

Phyllis set her jaw, sulked in silence.

Cora Felton cast a glance at Daniel Hurley, who was seated in his usual sprawl, with one foot actually up on the table. “On another topic, some of you may have noticed there are news crews in town. On account of the murders. They will undoubtedly be interested in talking with you. If you wish to talk to them, that’s your business. However, if you reveal information about the puzzle, that’s
mine.
Anyone discussing the inheritance with the media may allude to the fact that there
is
a puzzle. You may even go so far as to state that it is a
crossword
puzzle. But if you reveal any of the
solution
to the puzzle, even one syllable of a clue, then it would be up to me as judge to determine whether or not that revelation constituted a violation of the rules for which action need be taken. Am I making myself clear?”

“I didn’t reveal anything,” Daniel Hurley said.

The others turned on him.

“You talked to the TV people?” Philip Hurley demanded.

Daniel Hurley shrugged. “Only in generalities.”

“We’ll be the judge of that.” Philip Hurley was red-faced. “What did you tell them?”

“I can’t remember,” Daniel answered mildly. “Why don’t you watch the six o’clock news?”

"0em">

“You talked to them
on camera
?” Phyllis Applegate shrilled. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“Okay, I didn’t,” Daniel said.

Phyllis Applegate’s face darkened. “Are you making fun of us, young man?”

Cora Felton held up her hand. “Yes, he is, but so what? I, for one, don’t want to hear it. I have a piece of puzzle to hand out. I am going to give it out to anyone who qualifies. And then I am going home. I will be back here tomorrow morning at ten o’clock to give out the last piece of the puzzle. Between now and then, I don’t want to hear from you. I don’t want to hear
about
you. I don’t want it brought to my attention that several of you are violating the rules. I want to go home, have a good night’s sleep, come back here tomorrow morning, and find out nothing has happened other than crossword-puzzle solving. Now then, who here among you is ready for the next crossword-puzzle piece?”