A Will To Murder (28 page)

“Then why?”  She pointed at the bathroom door.

“He seems to have hated his cousin.”

Someone knocked on the door.  It was Rose, come to pick up Arthur.  After the Cummingses left, Eric said pointedly, “All right, it’s time you told us something.  You realize several people have died because your boss was sulking?”

“I’m not happy about it either,” she replied sharply.  “Do you realize I’ve had to conduct this investigation behind his back?”  

“Well, what are you people thinking?”

“There are three theories.  The first is Detective Escott’s, the second is Linzy’s, and the third is mine.  Escott is dividing all the deaths into natural ones and definite murders.  As far as he’s concerned, there’s only been
one
murder he’s sure of--Lance’s.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Smith shouted.  “Only one?!”

“You didn’t get my point,” she said impatiently, “One murder we’re
sure of
.  That’s all it means.  Until Katherine’s and Richie’s autopsies are complete, and Dr. Poole repeats Colette’s, we don’t know how they died.”

“God, at least add Woofie to the list,” said Bradley testily as he stroked Muffin.  “If you’re slashed to pieces, it’s murder.”  

“Okay, Heydrick has admitted killing Woofie.  They’ve found ostrich blood on the scythe, plus Heydrick’s prints.  The case against him is solid.  As for Lance, Escott thinks Phil shot him.  Salisbury had a motive, purchased the gun, and only his prints were found on it.  Plus, he has no alibi for his whereabouts when Lance died.  Phil claims he was smoking in the basement, but no one can verify this.  I’m afraid that if any of those autopsies are labeled murders, the police will try to charge Phil with them.”  

“But not Richie,” Eric reminded her, “Phil was in custody at the time.  What does Escott think about the other deaths?”

“He said it was a pretty childish thing to put that CD player in James’ car, so his suspect is someone who thinks childishly.”

“The whole family does,” said Maxwell.

“Hey, that’s unfair,” complained Smith.   

Eric gazed at the ceiling.  “It’s a Boyle family trait, okay?”

“And,” Wendy continued,  “Escott said it was a pretty childish thing to kill Woofie.  But if Heydrick would kill Woofie just because he disliked Lance and Colette, then he would also be capable of installing that CD player.  Escott emphasized that he thought it was only a prank.  If you want to kill, the detective said, you shoot your victim, or something like that.  Escott thinks Katherine’s death was natural and so was Colette’s.  Richie was most likely an accident.  The observation tower, Escott said, would have been a powerful lure for a boy, and encouraged Richie to play where he shouldn’t.  Some of the officers who’d had a chance to observe Richie at the sheriff’s said he was a pretty uncontrolled kid.  He punched his sister and cut up, generally.  The detective thinks that Willowby saw Richie fall off the roof, and the chauffeur fled because the cops might have blamed him for the boy’s death.  What motive, after all, would Willowby have for killing the boy?  Escott said there simply isn’t any.  And Phil and Heydrick were both in custody at the time of Richie’s death.”  

“Nevertheless, what about a serial killer?” asked Eric.  

“Escott says that’s too sloppy an explanation,” Wendy replied.  “He thinks it’s just one malicious prankster--Heydrick, and one real killer--Phil--and Willowby just panicked.”

“What about Willowby’s prints on the CD case?” Smith asked.  

Wendy scowled.  “Escott thinks it’s an intentional transfer on Heydrick’s part.  All it would take would be sticking the plastic case--with the inserts removed--inside the carriage house, and Willowby absent-mindedly picking it up and tossing it in the garbage, thinking it’s trash.  Escott said Heydrick’s burn pile story is suspicious.  Neither the inserts nor the plastic case have burn marks or smoke damage.  Heydrick has a criminal record, the detective reminded me, and Willowby doesn’t.”  

“That’s ridiculous!” cried Bradley.  “They still think all those other deaths were natural?”

She sighed.  “Remember, the police don’t know the family the way you do.  They don’t live at the house.  Cops go by material evidence.  They want proof that somebody was murdered and a chain of evidence leading to the guilty.  Escott’s not a complete fool, but I’m afraid that the detective is reluctant to adopt any theory that makes his previous lack of an investigation look shoddy.”  

“And your boss’ theory?” said Eric politely.  His girlfriend’s face was irate.  She must have had quite a time with the detective, Maxwell realized.

Her eyes went down in concentration.  “His theory is better than Escott’s, but I still don’t like it.  He thinks Willowby and Heydrick were in a plot together, and that’s why both their prints are on the CD case.  James’ death was the result of a prank--Linzy says he has a real feel for pranks against James,” (she winked at her hosts) “and that Heydrick and Willowby simply wanted to get back at an annoying employer.  They inadvertently killed him, but escaped blame.  That gave them an idea.  One or the other decided to kill Katherine, knowing they would inherit money from her.  Linzy doesn’t know what was in her will, but if she was angry enough with James, my boss thought Heydrick and Willowby might receive substantial sums.  Then the gardener got carried away and killed Woofie out of annoyance at Lance.  Linzy thinks Colette probably died a natural death.  A jealous Phil obviously killed Lance.  However, when the cops arrested Heydrick and he admitted killing Woofie, Willowby became frightened and prepared to flee in case Heydrick admitted killing Katherine, and incriminated him as well.  My boss says that Fowler’s First Law of Disappearances is:  he knows something.  Linzy insists that either Willowby killed somebody, or can finger the killer.  Since the chauffeur disappeared right after the police found his prints on the case, Linzy thinks someone at the sheriff’s must have tipped him off.  My boss also thinks that Richie was nearby when Willowby received the phone call and overheard where the chauffeur was planning to abscond to.  Then Willowby hung up, realized that Richie had listened, and decided to kill the boy.  Linzy thinks the chauffeur just grabbed a tool, popped Richie on the head, and arranged the boy’s body on top of that rock.  Then he spread the toy soldiers on the roof.  It wouldn’t have taken more than fifteen minutes to do it, my boss says, if the chauffeur moved fast.”

“That’s enough motive to murder a little kid?” Smith asked skeptically.

She shrugged.  “Linzy says sure, if you’re trying to escape arrest.  I don’t like his theory, but he’s my boss, and this is what we’re going to have to go to court with unless other evidence emerges.  I just hope we aren’t charging the wrong people,” she added sardonically.  

“What’s your own theory?” Eric asked.

“My bet is that at least four people were involved in the killings, and the motive was money.  Heydrick admits he killed Woofie.  He has no motive for incriminating himself, except simple honesty.  Therefore, I believe his story about the burn pile.  That makes Willowby guilty of planting the CD player.  So the vacation was only an attempt to make the chauffeur appear innocent.  Who would have known about James’ abhorrence of modern music?  Willowby of course, who was hired on that basis.  I think Linzy’s notion that the chauffeur killed Richie to cover his flight is correct.  Either Willowby or his accomplice killed Katherine for money, by slipping something into her dandelion wine.  I admit I don’t have a good idea about Colette.  She might have died a natural death.  And Phil shot Lance for revenge.”

“So who’s the fourth?” Bradley asked.

“Who wheeled in the tea cart,” Wendy replied, “and cleaned up afterwards?  Mrs. Marshpool.  She had a motive--to protect Armagnac and their future marriage.  She seems to regard Rollingwood as her property, and I think she recruited Willowby and Heydrick by offering them cuts of the inheritance.”  

“But Armagnac?” Maxwell asked.  “I don’t think he has the backbone for murder.”

“How well do you really know him?  He only had to pretend not to notice.  You see, I’ve just discovered something quite interesting about him.  On the way here, I’d stopped by the sheriff’s and talked to Hamilton.  He’s got a pretty stiff lawyer rind, but I squeezed him like an orange.  Remember the story that Armagnac tried to commit his father to an institution?  It’s true.  Hamilton admitted it.  He says Armagnac approached him for the dirty work, hinting at a large fee.  But Hamilton refused because James was his client.  Armagnac lost his temper and shouted, ‘You know that old bastard should have been put away years ago.  If he’s allowed to continue torturing us, there’s going to be a murder.’”

Both Eric and Bradley gaped.  “Hamilton really said that?” Eric asked.  “Despite the fact the Boyles are his clients?  I can’t believe he’d say that to someone from the D.A.’s office.”

“
Phil’s
his client,” Wendy reminded them, “now that James is dead, and he’s trying to steer suspicion away from Phil.  Hamilton said he’s planning to cut the Boyles loose as clients before Phil’s case goes to court.  He likes a nicer practice, and multiple deaths don’t suit him.”

Eric was trying to think of things that didn’t fit.  “What about Phil as your accomplice?” he said suddenly.  “I know he detested James.  Maybe he was in financial trouble of some sort we don’t know about, and he killed Katherine so his wife would inherit.  And what about Rose and Bert as Willowby’s accomplices?  Rose supplied the wine.  She had a motive--revenge for being disinherited--and a reason to kill Katherine--she knew she would inherit from her aunt.”

“No way,” insisted Bradley.  “I’m not
that
bad a judge of character.  Rose did not kill her aunt.”

“Then what about Bert, without his wife’s knowledge?” Eric argued.  “He has no reason to give a damn about the Boyles.  They’re his wife’s relations, not his.  He could have killed James for money and revenge, killed Katherine to inherit, Heydrick did Woofie, Phil shot Lance for revenge for Jac, and Willowby killed Richie--Gah!” Eric shouted, throwing his hands above his head.  “
Everybody’s killing everybody else!
 What a
stupid
theory.”  Disgusted, the reporter shut his eyes. “Arrest the damn lot of them,” he said morosely.  “Maybe the whole family’s nothing but killers.”

“Hey!” Smith protested.

“Maybe
you
did it,” Eric said to him.

“Very funny, Mr. Brilliant Investigative Reporter.  Just see if you get to sleep with the cats tonight.”

“That’s only doing me a favor.”

“I have to admit,” Wendy said, “I hadn’t thought hard about Bert or Rose.  I just don’t have that much on them.”  

Eric rubbed his eyelids.  “And we still don’t have any explanation for Colette.  I refuse to believe we have a handful of murders and she’s the only one to die a natural death.”

“I think Wendy’s right,” Smith said.  “About Mrs. Marshpool.  You know, I think the housekeeper just hated Colette.  They were battling viciously over that couch.”

“You don’t kill someone for sleeping on a couch,” Eric retorted.

“Hey, people bump each other off for some pretty stupid reasons.  The fact that Mrs. Marshpool cared so much where Colette slept was crazy.”

“Motive,” Eric repeated.  “I still don’t know if it’s money.  You don’t slash a bathrobe for monetary gain.”

“We’ll have to wait for the autopsy results,” said Wendy.  “I have to get up early tomorrow, so let’s go to sleep.”

The telephone rang at one o’clock in the morning, waking them.  Bradley answered it.  “Yeah, she’s here.  It’s someone from your office.”  Smith handed the receiver over.  

“It’s me, Dex, honey,” said Wendy sleepily.  

Eric’s eyes shot open.  

“You found Willowby?!”

Maxwell made a note to ask about that ‘honey’ bit, but the rest of Wendy’s conversation distracted him.  

“Suicide note?  Is he alive?”

Smith turned on the light.  Wendy said to them quickly, “They found the chauffeur in the woods.  He’d taken a bunch of sleeping pills and whiskey and was unconscious when they picked him up, but they think he’ll live.  What’d the note say?”  

She stopped to listen.  “He did?” she said after a moment.  “What else?  A wrench?  It does, huh.”  She lifted the receiver away from her mouth.  “Hey, you two, they found a wrench in the carriage house with Richie’s blood on it.  Plus Willowby’s prints--and no one else’s.  What was that?” She addressed the phone again.  “What do you mean, James’ will?  The will’s been read--no surprises there.  One provision Hamilton didn’t get to?  How come?”

“Jac interrupted with a temper tantrum,” said Smith with a yawn.

“Oh, yeah.  Go on, Dex.”

“Psst,” said Eric, leaning across the gap between their beds.  “Does Dex sound like a guy to you?”  Bradley only waved him off, for his ear was pressed to the other side of the receiver.

“Yeah, we know Katherine inherited the whole shebang.  What do you mean, not quite?  A trust?  What sort of trust?  Dex, dammit.  Don’t you--”  

She handed the phone back to Bradley.  “I hate Dexter.  He says I have to wait until tomorrow to find out.”

“What was that about the will?” Smith asked.  

She snorted.  “I don’t know, because Dex won’t cooperate.”

“What about Willowby?” Eric asked.  He was irked to find that Dexter was male.

“A suicide note in his pocket claimed that he absolutely hated the Boyles, and that he killed James, Katherine, Colette, and Richie, and had been planning to wipe out the whole family.  But after Richie’s death, he’d felt disgusted with himself for killing a child and decided to end his own life.  Dex says the note’s sort of incoherent, and the writing’s wobbly.  However, the note says it was written after he’d already downed the pills and booze, so the latter two are to be expected.”

“Was Willowby able to speak to the police?” Maxwell asked.

“He’s still unconscious, Dex says.  They think he might wake up if he hasn’t fried his brain too much.”

“Boy,” said Bradley with wonder.  “You were right, Eric.  The motive wasn’t money at all.  You wouldn’t have guessed he was foaming at the mouth about the family by the way he acted.  He was a pretty placid guy.”