Murder by Arrangement Page 11

  Gossip at the time was that there were symptoms included in the autopsy report that may or may not have been related to his heart failure. She would ask Charlie what he knew about that. Could Lily have administered some of her ‘special medicine’ that Lettie spoke of? Had Lily thought to cure her son-in-law and ended up killing him instead? Edna thought of her own recent education on the unpredictability of the strength of plants grown in one’s garden. Those used for medicinal purposes could just as well cause an overdose, if a season’s soil and weather conditions created more potent vegetation. She decided to find out from Lily if she were interested in herbal medicine. Did she actually use what she concocted to treat illness, or was that simply something she said to Lettie to satisfy a child’s curiosity? Again, Edna might have to tread carefully on that point.

  Why was John Forrester investigating the case? Another thing she’d ask Charlie. He might know or be able to find out, she thought, marking his initials in the margin. She remembered in some of the novels she’d read and shows she’d watched that some retired cops, finding time on their hands, looked into old crimes. Was that what Forrester was doing? It certainly seemed that he thought a crime had been committed, despite any evidence to prove it, so Edna approached her next questions with that in mind.

  Who benefited from Gregory Haverstrum’s death? She thought Rosie was probably the main beneficiary, but she’d check to be certain. Edna remembered Rosie saying she never received his life insurance, but it was unlikely that insurance would have been his only asset. If a significant inheritance had been at stake, certainly the papers would have been full of it, but no reports had mentioned Haverstrum’s finances. Had he even written a will? If not, all his worldly goods would automatically have gone to his wife, Edna thought. The Haverstrums had lived in an expensive house, but they could have been up to their eyeballs in debt.

  A picture of Lily Beck’s home popped into Edna’s mind. It was neat and clean, but decidedly shabby. And her clothes had obviously been expensive, but they were dated and threadbare as well. Apparently, Lily had to watch her budget. Edna thought of the obvious tension between Rosie and her mother. If Rosie had money, wouldn’t she help her mother maintain the family home or buy her a new outfit? Edna supposed Rosie would probably not be employed as an assistant to an event planner if she didn’t have to work.

  What else might have motivated someone to murder Gregory Haverstrum? Edna didn’t think Rosie would kill her husband simply because he’d been cheating on her. Maybe the motive wasn’t money or sex, but something else like revenge. If not his wife, could an angry business associate have wanted Haverstrum dead? Maybe she should check on whether or not any of his clients had lost a considerable amount of money because of his advice.

  Edna’s head began to throb. Too many questions and not nearly enough answers. Going back over the pages, she realized that one person was definitely associated with both deaths. Obviously, her next step was to speak with Lily Beck. Edna thought again of the ex-detective who also was connected to both cases. Why had Forrester shown up at the scene of Clem’s death? The handyman could hardly have had anything to do with what had happened to Gregory Haverstrum. Clem hadn’t even been living in the area two years ago.

  As Edna was about to start her car, she had a dreadful thought. What if Forrester were to see her at Lily’s? She felt her temper rise at the bullying attitude of that man. He had no authority to tell her what she could or couldn’t do, and she knew part of her anger was at herself for allowing him to intimidate her. She could very well be on garden club business or even offering condolences over Clem. The retired policeman could assume Edna was asking about the deaths of the handyman or the son-in-law, but he couldn’t prove a thing.

  Now, all she had to do was think of an excuse to give Lily for dropping by unannounced. A sympathy visit over the loss of her worker was weak, but it would have to do. I’ll take her some flowers, Edna thought, then immediately laughed at herself. What’s the expression? Taking coals to Newcastle? She thought then of the sketch she’d done, meaning for it to be a thank-you for last month’s invitation to view Lily’s winter garden. Under the circumstances, Edna knew she’d never be able to give that particular present to Lily, ever. A drawing of the Christmas Rose would be a terrible and gruesome reminder. Edna considered keeping it for herself, but immediately rejected the idea. She couldn’t help but think of Clem lying in the snow when she saw the blossom. Not only that, but if she were to hang the painting in her house, there was always a chance that Peppa or Tuck would spot it. She decided to burn it in the fireplace as soon as she got home.

  After a moment’s thought and scanning the storefronts that weren’t blocked by the SUV to her left, Edna decided to visit a small tea shop where she bought a tin of her favorite English Breakfast tea and a box of fancy chocolate digestives. The boutique’s small paper bag with string handles was attractive enough to serve as gift wrapping.

  Hoping Lily would be pleased with the gift and anxious to talk about recent events, Edna headed for the Beck house. As she drove, she began to wonder about Lily’s family. Why had Rosie taken Lettie home after the youngster had been with her grandmother for only a day? Supposedly, the girl was to stay the week because Rosie had to work long hours preparing for several Valentine’s Day weddings. Was it Rosie who needed to have Lettie near her or was the little girl afraid her mother would go away just as her father had done?

  Pulling onto the broad driveway, Edna spotted Lily bent over in the garden, seeming to tamp down dirt with the blade of a small shovel. The woman straightened as Edna turned off the engine. Neither Lily’s nor Clem’s vehicle was in sight. Getting out of the car, Edna glanced at the windows of the apartment above the garage and idly wondered who would clear out Clem’s belongings or if he’d even had very much to begin with. She speculated if anything in his place might provide a clue to what had happened to him. She might offer her help to pack up his things and take them to Peppa.

  These thoughts were interrupted as Lily waved her over. When Edna approached, she could see Lily looked disgusted.

  “That wretched man uprooted my Christmas Rose.”

  Edna looked at the tangle of roots, leaves and a few mangled blossoms. “I assume you mean Clem. Did you see him do it?”

  Lily frowned as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her. “Well, no. I didn’t actually see him do it. I would have stopped him if I had. That female police officer was here not an hour ago. Showed me a picture on her phone and asked if I recognized it. Well, of course, I came straight out here and found this.” Lily flapped her hand at the churned-up soil.

  “Maybe someone else did the damage and he only picked up one of the blooms.”

  Lily turned on her, sounding half angry and half curious. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “I have no idea. I’m just wondering why Clem would destroy your plant and attempt to take a bloom to his ex-wife, particularly since he hadn’t seen her in years.”

  Lily poked her shovel around in the dirt. “I don’t know who else would have done such a thing. Certainly not my daughter or my granddaughter. They wouldn’t dare. And you’ve just confirmed my suspicion. If Clem didn’t do this, why would he be carrying around one of the blooms?”

  Edna shook her head. “Wish I knew.”

  As if the thought had just occurred to her, Lily eyed Edna inquisitively. “I don’t often see you in this neighborhood.”

  Edna suddenly felt awkward. She should have realized from the way she’d seen Lily treat Clem on Friday that the woman had little feeling for the man who’d worked for her these last several months. Edna plowed on, still hoping to gain something from the visit. “I thought you might be upset over your handyman’s death.” She held up the bag from the tea shop. “I came to offer my sympathy and bring condolences,” thinking again as she spoke the words that the woman didn’t appear to need comforting.

  Lily seemed to soften considerably, but not, Edna suspected, over the memory of her employee.
Maybe she wasn’t used to receiving gifts from acquaintances. “How nice of you,” she said, her face flushing with pleasure. Pushing the shovel into the loose soil next to the demolished Christmas Rose, she reached for the present and peeked inside. “Lovely.” She looked up at Edna and smiled. “Let’s go inside and I’ll brew a pot.”

  Exactly what Edna had hoped and she was suddenly glad she’d thought to bring that particular gift. With Clem being foremost in her mind, when she followed Lily into the kitchen, Edna said, “I didn’t know when I met him the other day that your handyman was the ex-husband of my friend Harriet Peppafitch.”

  “And I didn’t realize you were acquainted with Peppa,” Lily said. “I used to take Rose to Saturday story hour at the library.”

  Edna couldn’t tell by Lily’s bland expression what she thought of Peppa, so decided to continue with the excuse for her visit. “I thought if I could tell Peppa about Clem’s work here and particularly his last days, she might find some solace.” Who knows, Edna thought, that tiny white lie may turn out to be the truth. Aloud, she said, “Can you tell me anything about him that I could take back to her? Aside from his work for you, was he involved in anything else? Hobbies, perhaps, or maybe he spent time with friends in the area? Maybe he reconnected with some of his old colleagues?”

  “Let me think,” Lily said, having filled an electric kettle with water and turned it on. Falling silent while she pulled the tea tin and biscuit box out of the small bag, she seemed to concentrate more on her gifts than Edna’s questions. She put some digestives on a plate and reached for a white porcelain teapot decorated with violets. Disappearing into the dining room, she returned with two china cups and saucers which she set on a wooden tray alongside the biscuits.

  By the time Lily had finished setting things out, the water was boiling, so she poured some into the pot. When the porcelain was warm enough for her apparent satisfaction, she poured out the water, spooned tea leaves into the pot and carefully refilled it. That done, she covered it with a cozy and turned to Edna with a smile. “If you’ll carry the tray, we’ll go sit in the conservatory. It’s my favorite room, especially on a sunny winter day like today.”

  Admiring Lily’s proper way to make a pot of tea, Edna followed her hostess to the bright, glassed-in room at the back of the house. When they were settled in cushioned wicker chairs, she posed a different question. “How did Clem come to work for you? You said you knew Peppa from the library, but had you known her husband? I understand they separated about five years ago and he left town.”

  Lily, slowly turning the pot three rotations to settle the tea leaves, didn’t answer immediately. When she finally did, it was with a nod. “Yes, I knew him as Professor Peppafitch. I took a class from him … oh, let’s see, about fifteen years ago, maybe twenty. I forget exactly which one he taught. I audited several at the university about the same time.” She poured out a cup for Edna and handed it to her. “He must have remembered that I keep to myself and never gossip.” She sat back in her chair, carefully balancing her cup and saucer. “I think that’s why he knocked on my door when he came back to town. Knew I wouldn’t spread his business around.”

  “Did he ever mention to you why he didn’t want his ex-wife to know he was back?”

  Lily shook her head. “Nope. Didn’t ask and he didn’t offer. I keep myself to myself, and he did, too.” She looked at Edna as if the question were slightly offensive. “Besides, we weren’t exactly social equals. He worked for me.”

  Edna ignored the snobbish remark and asked. “Was he in touch with any of his old friends? Did anyone come to visit?”

  “Not that I knew of. Never saw anyone talking to him. Nobody ever came to my door looking for him.”

  Edna thought she’d probably exhausted this line of inquiry, so she sipped her tea as she considered how to get Lily to talk about her late son-in-law. Hoping there was a soft spot somewhere in the woman, Edna said, “My granddaughter told me that Lettie … I mean Violet, went home with her mother.” When Lily simply stared out the glass walls at the garden beyond, Edna went on. “I thought from what Amanda said that Violet would be staying with you for the entire week. I was looking forward to saying hello to her again. She’s a delightful child and I enjoyed her company on Saturday.” Edna thought that was laying it on pretty thick, but she hoped her effusiveness would encourage Lily to talk about her family.

  “Her mother changed our plans.” Edna noticed a faint flush creeping up the woman’s neck to her cheek and thought she heard a muttered “typical” before Lily’s lips tightened into a firm line. She surprised Edna by speaking again. “She’s too fiercely protective of the child. Girl’s not able to breath the way Rose hovers.”

  Sensing a tense frustration to that bit of conversation, Edna tried again, hoping to lighten Lily’s mood. “Rosie … ah, Rose says Violet is happier since they moved to Warwick. Do you get that impression also?”

  This time, Lily did turn her head and her lips loosened into a near smile. “Yes, I do think she seems more cheerful lately.”

  Without thinking, Edna spoke from her heart. “I believe that if the rumors surrounding her father’s death were put to rest, Lettie could be saved from future persecution.”

  Lily stood abruptly and dropped her cup and saucer on the table, nearly shattering the fine bone china. “If you don’t mind, Edna, I will get back to my garden.”

  Chapter 16

  Edna had known the son-in-law’s death and subsequent effects on his family would be a difficult subject to broach, but it had been worth a try. Or had it? Would Lily ever speak to her again? And what had made her so angry? Was it the possibility of Lettie being the brunt of other children’s brutality that upset Lily or was it mention of Gregory Haverstrum? How close had she been to her daughter’s husband?

  Edna sighed. She’d driven away without much thought to where she was going, but as if by instinct, she was heading toward her own neighborhood. Glancing at the dashboard clock, she saw it was nearly noon. Seeing no other traffic on the straightaway, she pulled onto the shoulder and took out her cell phone to call Charlie.

  “Have you had lunch?” she asked after greeting the detective and finding out he was at his desk in the stationhouse.

  “Are you offering or wanting me to take you out?” he replied with a smile in his voice.

  She laughed. “I’m not quite certain what’s in the larder, but if you want to take a chance, I’m offering.”

  “I’ll take a chance on your cooking any day. Shall I drop around in a half hour?”

  “That will be fine.” Ending the call and pulling back onto the road, she began mentally to line up the questions she had for him. And, if John Forrester did show up unannounced, he would be in for a surprise. Edna grinned at the thought, almost wishing the retired policeman would arrive on her doorstep while Charlie was there.

  Forty minutes later, she heard a knock at the back door and a voice call from the mud room. “Hi, Edna. It’s me.”

  “Come in, Charlie,” she called back from the stove where she was stirring bits of ham into a pot of split-pea soup. He’d removed his coat and was walking into the kitchen when a dinging noise sounded. “Perfect timing,” she said and pulled a pan of corn bread out of the oven. “Pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit.”

  Over lunch, they chatted about things unrelated to any police investigation, except for Charlie to bemoan the fact that work had interfered with a special dinner date with Starling. When her name came up, Edna was careful to stay away from asking questions of a too-personal nature. She wondered if she appeared too eager or pushy, if she would scare Charlie away from her daughter. The two young people would find their way together or not, but Edna had to admit she was getting impatient for them to realize they were meant for each other.

  When they reached a dessert of cranberry cake, Edna refilled Charlie’s coffee, served herself a cup of tea and started in on her reason for inviting the detective to lunch. “Have you gotten a report from the
medical examiner about Clem?”

  “Not yet, but something else has surfaced. I told him about the ranunculin you mentioned as possibly causing the mouth ulcers. He said Clem’s mouth and esophagus were clean, but the blisters you mentioned rang a bell in an older case.”

  “A poisoning?”

  Charlie nodded. “Yup. Gregory Haverstrum. He had those exact symptoms. At the time, the M.E. didn’t know for sure the blisters were related to cause of death, but he found nothing he could test for. Without an idea of what he’d be looking for, it’d be a waste of taxpayers’ money to go off on a fishing expedition. So, the investigating team noted the abnormality in Haverstrum’s file, but didn’t think much more about it. They figured it probably was related to the flu that had him laid up that week.”

  Edna felt her pulse speed up. “Can the M.E. recheck a two-year-old corpse?”

  “Afraid not. Haverstrum was cremated as soon as his body was released.”

  Edna sank back in her chair, having realized her mistake. “Ranunculin’s a natural substance. It’s likely it had dissipated anyway before Gregory’s body was found. Two days, wasn’t it?”

  Charlie nodded, paused, then said, “Well, the M.E. has the information now, so I trust he’ll know what to do with it if he ever spots those symptoms again. At any rate, Clem didn’t have skin lesions, so we struck out there.”

  “How did he happen to collapse in Peppa’s driveway, and how did he get there in the first place?”