Old Bones: a Hetty Fox Cozy Mystery (Hetty Fox Cozy Mysteries Book 2) (5 page)

M
y house was quiet when I returned home that night. Andrew was apparently still out on his pub crawl. Blackie greeted me at the door. I led him to the refrigerator where I pulled out a leftover pork roast. After cutting a portion into small chunks, I placed them in his food bowl and set it on the floor. He circled my ankles twice to let me know he was grateful. Then, he settled to his meal.

Leaving Backie to his food. I returned to the counter, opened a drawer, and withdrew a phone book. Susan Cromwell was listed on page six. She answered on the second ring.

“Susan?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You don’t know me. But my daughter is married to Damon Langdon. I wondered if you would be willing to talk with me about Eva Langdon, his aunt?”

There was a long pause from the other end of the line. “I can’t believe I have anything important to tell you. It was all so long ago.”

“Actually, I know nothing about the woman, so whatever information you come provide will be very helpful.”

There was a another moment of silence. “When do you want to do this?”

“Whenever is best for you.”

More silence, then she said, “What about tomorrow morning? It’s my day off.”

“That sounds fine. Should I come to your house, or would you like us to meet here?”

“How about you join me at the Sugar Shack?”

“That sounds good.”

“What time?”

“Say about ten?”

“Ten it is, then. See you tomorrow.”

I returned the receiver to the cradle and made my way back to the living room. After turning on the radio, I settled into my favorite chair. It sat in the middle of the room facing the fireplace. I’d never had the luxury of owning one before. I could still hardly believe I now had three of them. There was the one  in the living room, another one in the dining room, and one more in my bedroom. I suspected there had once been a fireplace in the kitchen, too, but if so, it had been bricked up ages ago. But the three that  remained were in working order and had been my delight throughout this past winter. I’d had fires burning nearly every night.

Megan had worried about me buying such an old house. But I was delighted with it. It softened the pang I felt at giving up my old friends and former life in the city.

Pulling out a stash of pink yarn, I cast the required number of stitches onto my needle and started work on another baby blanket. The knitting group met next week, and I hoped to have the project well underway by then. At some point Blackie wandered in and curled himself into his basket.

I was just about to start on my second row of stitches when Andrew popped up beside me. “Greetings.” he chirped.

I lowered my knitting and stared at him. “Don’t you look pleased with yourself?”

“I like getting out. Moving around. Watching people. It was fun. Man, the good old boys down here sure are a hoot.”

“I’m delighted you enjoyed yourself, but did you learn anything?”

“A lot of people sounded really surprised about the mummy turning out to Eva. Those who knew her all said they thought she had returned to Chicago after her brother’s funeral.”

“That lends weight to what Damon’s said, too.”

“Yes, there is that,” Andrew agreed. “There was also a lot of talk about her and a guy named Sam Hillman.”

“Right, he was Homecoming King the same year Eva was Queen. I’ve heard all about that.”

“Are you dismissing it?”

“No. I fully intend to have a chat with Sam at some point.”

“But have you heard about the dust up between her and Sam the last time she came back?”

I set my knitting aside. “They argued?”

“I don’t know really. Some guys thought it got physical. Others thought not. Someone said the problem wasn’t between Sam and Eva. They thought it was Sam’s wife who was on the warpath.”

“But Eva left Hendricksville after high school,” I protested. “That was her choice. If she’d wanted a relationship with Sam, she could have kept it going after high school.”

“Look. I’m just repeating what I heard. And as I said, not everyone told the same story.”

***

The next morning found me up early. I carried my tea to the porch. I adored sitting at my small table and watching the sun come up. It was one of my favorite times of the day. I reveled in the coolness before dawn and adored listening to the twittering of birds as they roused themselves to another day. Even as I had settled into my house through the long winter, I had dreamed all of these summer moments.

I had nearly finished my first cup of tea when Andrew drifted through the screen door. That, of course, hacked Blackie off, trapped as he was indoors, and he wailed in protest.

I scowled up at Andrew. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Come out onto the porch. You know it upsets Blackie.”

Andrew shrugged. “Then let him come out and join us.”

My poor cat, he’d had so much to adjust to since the move -- and now there was Andrew, giving him a hard time whenever he could.
“We’ve already discussed that. It isn’t going to happen.”

“A guy can only try.”

In Chicago, I’d lived on the fifteenth floor. Blackie had never even seen a rabbit or squirrel when looking our windows there. Here, they scampered all around the yard and tormented him with their antics. And now there was Andrew. He was proving to be the biggest adjustment of all for my poor cat.

I shoved my way out of my chair and made for the kitchen. Maybe a saucer of milk would take Blackie’s mind off his troubles.

“You had better take your tea mug with you,” Andrew said. “it’s nearly empty.”

I summoned up a sour smile. “Thanks,” I said, going back and snatching it from the table.

“You’re welcome.”

Ugh. Life had been easier lived on my own with just my cat to deal with. Not that Blackie was exactly undemanding. Nor was he shy when it came to letting me know exactly what he thought. He might not have a voice, but he was well able to let his feelings show.

But at least this time, he settled down to my offering of milk and left me to pour myself my tea in peace. When I returned to the porch, I found Andrew floating about the yard.

Who could blame him? It was a lovely place. The person who’d owned the house before me had apparently been a gifted gardener. New flowers had been coming and going into bloom all spring and they were now drifting into a new variety of colors and textures as spring shifted into summer.

I only worried that I might not be able to maintain the beds, which were quite lovely. But Megan had suggested I take a course on gardening this fall through the local community college in Weaverton. And I was looking forward to it. I’d always wanted to garden, but I hadn’t had much of a chance to do s in my apartment on the fifteen stories up.

Resuming my position at the table, I watched as Andrew drifted back up onto the porch.

“So what’s on your agenda today?” he asked.

“I’m going to meet with a woman named Susan Cromwell.”

“Oh, that’s right. And what about me? What should I do?”

I stared off into the distance for a moment. “How would you feel about dropping in at Oberton’s office?”

It was an outrageous suggestion. I was asking him to spy on the police. But I was desperate. My daughter didn’t need a husband behind bars. My grandchildren didn’t deserve having their father locked up in prison, either. Besides, it was still possible Andrew wasn’t real and that all I was doing at this moment was talking to myself.

As much as I wanted to believe him, I was still a realist after all.

But that was a question to be settled  later. Today, I wanted to learn more about the murdered woman. So with that in mind, I sent Andrew to prowl through Oberton’s office, while I headed for my bedroom to prepare myself for the day.

T
he Sugar Shack was Hendricksville’s one claim to upscale dining. Without a doubt it featured some of the best pastries within five counties. At least that was Megan’s claim. I hadn’t yet driven around the other counties to checks her accuracy, but I never regretted having a reason to stop here for a baked good or two.

My only regret was that they didn’t sell goodies to go. I would have loved to have a supply of their offerings tucked away in my freezer to consume on a cloudy day.

But the restaurant’s excellent reputation also mean it was often hard to snag a seat. With this being a Saturday, even at ten, the room was still packed.  A woman standing near the door approached me. She had a long face, short hair, and an engaging smile. “Hetty Fox?”

I nodded. 

“Good morning,” she said, extending her hand.

I grasped it. “You’re Susan Cromwell, aren’t you? Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me.”

Susan  laughed. “I suspect you’ll find almost everyone in Hendricksville willing to spend time with you. You’re the woman who found the mummy.” Her grey eyes twinkled. “That’s quite a feather in your cap.”

We moved to an open booth to our right. “Lucky me.”

She smiled. She was a substantial woman with broad shoulders and a square jaw. She looked perfectly capable wrestling a corpse into a trunk. That probably wasn’t a very nice thing for me to think. But there it was.

Our waitress approached. She was a young thing with a long ponytail and a pleasant smile. She poured us coffee and took our orders. Susan opted for a piece of Black Forest cake. I chose a pecan creation that was much like a slice of pecan pie wrapped in a hot, buttery roll. I silently vowed to forgo breakfast and lunch for the next three days.

“So, what can I do for you?” Susan asked as our waitress departed from the table.

“As you’ve probably heard, the woman found in the trunk was my son-in-law’s aunt.”

She got credit for trying to restrain it, but a small grin played around the corners of her mouth,. “Yes, I have heard something about that.”

“I believe you and Eva were best friends in high school?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“What were you to each other, then?” I took a sip of the coffee. It was hot, strong, and good.

“We hung around together sometimes.”

“Could you give me a few more details? I’m trying hard to understand the woman.”

Susan expelled a large lungful of air and stared at me or a long moment. “We attended grade school and high school together,” she finally said. “We were in the same crowd, mostly. But I would never have called us best friends.”

“Why not?”

She sighed. “Because friends share personal stuff. Eva never went there.”

“Did you have a better friend?”

Her head jerked back at the question. “Ah… no, not really.”

“What did you do when you were together, then?”

“Nothing heavy. We mostly talked about the latest hairstyles, or clothes, or who we liked or didn’t.”

“So who did Eva like?”

“Of the girls, I was pretty much it for her. As far as the boys went, she never said much about them. Just the usual complaints about them all being jerks.”

“Did she have any enemies?”

Susan’s eyes widened. “Of course not. We were in still in high school.”

“Okay, maybe enemy is too strong a word, but how about people who didn’t like her?”

“Oh there were tons of them. Eva was a bit standoffish. That never goes over well.”

Our orders arrived. Susan and I sat silently while the young gal set our plates before us and refreshed our coffee.

“What about her parents?” I asked after the server left. “Did she talk about them with you?”

“Nah, like I said, she avoided discussing personal stuff.”

“Nothing?”

Her mouth compressed into a thin, hard line. “Why don’t you ask Damon about the family?”

“He says he doesn’t remember much about his aunt.”

Susan nodded. “I know she resented that the grain business was left to Damon’s dad. I do know that much.”

“She felt the division was unfair?”

“She felt the business should have come to both of them, and if her brother wanted it for himself, he should have had to buy her half from her.”

“She was talking about it while you were still in high school?”

Susan nodded.

“But I thought their parents didn’t die until later. How would Eva know how their property would be distributed after their deaths?”

Susan shrugged. “I had a feeling the family had discussed it.”

“Before either of the parents had died?”

“Yes.”

“That’s extraordinary.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too. I had siblings, but no one back then told me how my parents’ possessions would be divied up among us.”

“Did she seem fixated on the issue?”

“No. She only mentioned it a couple of times that I recall. But it was perfectly obvious that she had strong feelings. Anyway, that’s about as personal as it got with her. She’d make a couple of mentions of a major problem once or twice. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. No one was close with her. She had this fence around her. It kept everyone away.”

“But Eva went to college,” I said, trying another tack. “I assume her family paid for that?”

“I’d think so. I doubt college loans were widely available back then.”

“So she must have gotten some money from her family.”

“I guess so.”

“She managed to graduate?”

“Yep. That’s what I heard.”

“Do you know what she did afterward?”

“I think she went to law school. But I never really heard from her again. In my opinion she was delighted to be free of Hendricksville, and she never cared to renew her relationship with any of us again.”

“I’ve been told she and Sam Hillman were an item in their senior year.”

Susan shook her head. “Poor Sam.”

“What does that mean?”

“He fell hard for her, although I could never see why. She thought she was so special. But when she went away to college, I thought Sam’s heart would break. He was that smitten.”

“But he recovered and went on to marry someone else.”

“Yes and in my opinion. Willa makes a much better wife for him than Eva would have been.”

“It’s believed Eva was probably murdered when she returned to Hendricksville to attend her parents’ funeral.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“So what do you know about Harold and Bertie Lawry? I believe, back then, they owned the house Eva’s body was found in.”

“Yes, that might make sense. Their son, Eden, used to hold dances there when we were all in high school.”

“Does Eden still live Hendricksville?”

“No, he’s out on the west coast. He was a brainiac.  He snagged himself an impressive job in the space industry.

“When Eva came back for her parents’ funeral, did you and she get together?”

Susan paused for a moment, then lifted her chin. “Oh, no you don’t. You’re not gonna shift the blame for Eva’s death off of Damon’s shoulders and plop it down on mine.”

“That is absolutely not what I’m trying to do,” I protested.

“Yeah, right,” she replied.

***

Back home, I found Andrew waiting for me in the living room. I breezed right by him, heading for the kitchen.  He got in line and followed me. Blackie, brought up the rear. Reaching the kitchen, he  jumped to the top of the fridge. I chuckled. Blackie’s habit of always going for the high ground made me suspect an ancient ancestor of his had once marched with Caesar. Maybe he would be able to handle life in the wild if I chose to dump him there. Fortunately, that wouldn’t happen..

“So what did you learn?” I asked Andrew.

“Not much. The coroner’s official report was sitting open on his desk. I took a minute to review it.”

“What did you learn?”

“The only thing I saw was that Eva had been strangled.”

I nodded. “Huh. I couldn’t tell that from viewing the corpse.”

“Do you think it’s significant?”

“It means whoever killed her didn’t need to bring along a gun or knife. The only other thing that occurs to me is that strength was a factor.”

“Yes, I would think so.”

“Do you think a woman could strangle someone?”

“I think I’ve heard of a case or two involving a woman, yes.”

I sighed. I’d have preferred a no vote. It would have shortened suspect list. “Anything else?”

“Oberton put out a lot of phone calls. It’s too bad so few of them were helpful.”

I turned on the faucet and started filling the kettle. “But some were?”

“I’d say so, yes.”

I placed the kettle back on the stove and switched on the burner. “Would you care to be more specific?”

“He asked a detective in Chicago to check to see if anyone up there filed a missing person report.”

“Did he find someone?”

“Yes, apparently a Beverly Kapinski reported Eva missing a couple of weeks after she failed to return to work. That was right after she’d come here to attend her brother’s funeral. She was Eva’s secretary at the law firm.”

“That could be interesting. I know nothing about Eva’s life in Chicago. I’d like to learn more if we can.”

Andrew nodded. “How did it go with Susan Cromwell?”

“I had about the same kind of luck as you had with Oberton.”

“How come?”

I sighed. “I don’t know. Toby said Susan had been Eva’s best friend, but Susan maintained they weren’t all that close. She certainly confirmed the rumors you heard about Sam Hillman and Eva were on the money. He was apparently wild about her.”

I rose, opened a drawer, and pulled the telephone directory out.

“What are you doing?” Andrew asked.

“Calling Hillman to see if he’ll meet with me.”

I grabbed my cell phone and punched in his numbers. A woman answered on the third ring. “Hello?” she said.

“Hi, my name is Hetty Fox. Is Sam Hillman there?

“Do I know you?” the woman asked.

“I don’t think so. I’m new to town. Is your husband there?”

“May I tell him what you’re calling about?”

I didn’t particularly want to explain about my interest in her husband and his possible ties to Eva. “Tell him I have some questions about his high school days.”

There was nothing but dead silence from the other end of the line for the longest time. Finally, the woman said, “if you’ll hold, I’ll see if he’s around.”

A couple of minute’s later, a man’s voice came on the line. “Hello?”

“Sam Hillman?”

“Yes.”

I filled him in on who I was, and what I wanted, and finished up by asking if we could get together?

There was a long  pause. “Ah… I suppose so. Sure. Why not?”

“When would be a good time for you?”

“This evening would be okay.”

“Where do you live?”

“We’re out in the country. You’d never find us out here at night. You know Spotty’s Place?”

“Sure.”

“Meet me there at eight.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll buy you a coffee.”

“Thanks, I’ll look forward to it.”