Fruit of the Poisoned Tree (16 page)

“I was here. I think I was resting after dinner. My housekeeper, Alice Godwin, was here with the children until nine. Then I got up and put them to bed.”

“So you were in your bedroom the whole time?” Jonas suggested. “Did you talk to your housekeeper or your children during that time? Did they see you?”

“No, I don’t think so. I was exhausted, as I’m sure you can appreciate, Lieutenant. I was in my room with the door closed the whole time. The kids can get pretty loud playing games.”

Al and Jonas exchanged meaningful glances. It reminded Peggy so much of Sergeant Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon from
Dragnet
that she almost laughed. She controlled the smile she hid behind her hand and focused on what was happening.

“Well, one thing Peggy
couldn’t
tell you, since we managed to keep her out of the crime scene,” Al explained, “is that your mother-in-law managed to write a single letter in her own blood before she died. It was clearly a
B.
”

“That doesn’t mean
I
did anything. In the ten years I knew her, Isabelle
never
called me Beth. You can ask anyone. She always called me Elizabeth. She was very formal. But I’m sure there are plenty of people with
B
as an initial. I was home all night last night. I didn’t hurt Isabelle.”

Jonas got to his feet and paced the tiny room like a caged cat. “Come on, Mrs. Lamonte. You expect us to believe you
weren’t
angry at your mother-in-law’s accusation about your husband’s death? She said you
killed
him. We know she accused you to your face right in your home, in front of your friends. That
must
have made you upset. Maybe you didn’t mean to hurt her when you went over there. Maybe you just wanted to shut her up and things got out of hand.”

“Isabelle Lamonte meant her accusation
metaphorically,
Lieutenant, I’m sure,” Gary intervened. “Mrs. Lamonte and my client didn’t get along well, not an unusual relationship in families. When she said my client killed her husband, she meant in the sense that she wasn’t good enough for him. But anyone who knew Isabelle knew how she felt about the relationship. It wasn’t a secret.”

“That’s not the impression we were under, Mr. Rusch,” Jonas said. “Isabelle Lamonte was explicit. She believed your client
actively
killed Mr. Lamonte for the ten million dollar life insurance policy. She told us that her daughter-in-law
actually
killed her son. There was nothing metaphoric about it.”

“Not that it matters, Lieutenant. As my client told you,” Gary reiterated, “she was here with the children all evening. I think that’s about all we have to say on the matter.”

Jonas glared at Beth, clearly not satisfied. “I hope you’ll advise
your client
to work with us, sir. This isn’t over yet. We’re conducting a more in-depth autopsy on Mr. Lamonte
and
checking out the car again as well as continuing the investigation into what happened to Isabelle Lamonte. If we find anything out of the ordinary, we’ll be back. Maybe with an arrest warrant. And we want to talk with your housekeeper. I need her name and address.”

Gary smiled, unruffled by the threat. “If that time comes, Lieutenant, we’ll be here. You’re welcome to the housekeeper’s name and address.”

Al and Jonas left after Beth wrote down Alice’s full name and phone number. She wasn’t sure about her address. Al remarked on the fact that the two households shared the same housekeeper.

Beth shook her head. “I’m sure you’re mistaken, Detective McDonald. I don’t think Alice has ever worked for Isabelle.”

Checking his notebook, Al replied, “I have her finding Mrs. Lamonte last night. She said she’s worked for her for years.”

“He’s telling you the truth,” Peggy chimed in. “I—uh—overheard the same thing outside.”

“Overheard, huh?” Jonas remarked.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Beth glanced at Peggy and Gary.

“Does this have some bearing on the case, Detective?” Gary asked him.

Al shrugged. “I’m not sure yet, Mr. Rusch. It might. Talk to you later, Peggy.”

The lawyer showed Al and Jonas to the front door. Beth hid her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this is happening to me. Isn’t it enough that Park is dead? Why is this happening?”

Peggy didn’t know what to say. Gary came back and sat on the side of the chair beside Beth. “Sorry about that. We don’t want to give them the impression we’re
not
cooperating. You need to think back, Beth. Maybe Alice saw you some time last night when you went downstairs for some water or you asked how the children were doing. Maybe she looked in on you while you were resting. She was worried about you. It would be a spontaneous thing to do.”

His meaning was clear. Peggy’s eyebrows raised, and Beth stared at him. “I didn’t do anything, Gary. I’m not going to ask Alice to lie for me.”

He shrugged, quite elegantly for wearing flannel, Peggy thought, watching him. “You have to know the police will be back whether they find anything wrong about Park’s death or not,” he informed her. “It isn’t a big stretch of the imagination for anyone to think you could sneak out when no one was looking, push Isabelle down the stairs, and come back. Her house is only a few minutes’ walk from here.”

“It took me about five minutes, maybe.” Peggy squeezed Beth’s hand again. “I agree with Gary. I don’t think it’s over either. But there’s no reason to lie about it. The evidence will prove you innocent.”

Gary got to his feet and glanced at his Rolex. “I’m just trying to help. I would rather nip this in the bud than fight it in court. You know we’ll all do whatever we can for you, Beth, but a
B
drawn in the old lady’s blood is pretty dramatic. All those friends of yours who heard Isabelle say you killed her son will testify for the DA against you, whether they want to or not. Having Alice say she glanced in and saw you sleeping seems easier to me. But you do what you think is right.”

“Thanks, Gary.” Beth shook his hand.

Was it Peggy’s imagination or did his hand linger on Beth’s a little longer than was necessary?

“I wish I could handle this for you, but I’m swamped. I’ll send someone from the firm over to help you out.” He smiled and hugged Beth, his hands sliding up and down her slender back, pressing her closer to him.

Peggy frowned. Really, the man had no sense of propriety!

Beth closed the door behind the attorney and leaned against it.

“I hope whoever he sends is better than Mr. Rusch,” Peggy said.

“Gary’s a very good attorney. Park always said so.”

“Maybe. But I wouldn’t want him on
my
side!”

“What else can I do?”

“I know just the right person,” Peggy took out her cell phone. “I’ll give her a call.”

Hunter Ollson was there in twenty minutes. She was tall, blond, and beautiful, more like a fashion model for
Fitness Today
than an attorney. She hugged Peggy when she saw her, dropping her briefcase on the wood floor. “I’m so happy to see you! You called at just the right time. I was trying to decide if I should give up being a lawyer and go into wrestling. I defended a lady wrestler last month. Do you realize how much money they make? The Warner case made me notorious in this town. All I can get now is DUI sports figures and race car drivers who slap their fans.”

Peggy laughed. Hunter was always a breath of fresh air. “Beth, this is Hunter Ollson. She’s Sam’s sister.”

Beth shook Hunter’s hand. “I remember your name. You defended Mr. Cheever when he was accused of killing that man in Peggy’s shop. Hello, Hunter. I’m Beth Lamonte.”

“Hello. I’m so sorry for your loss and this other mess. I hope I can help.” Hunter picked up her briefcase, and the three women went into the dining room. From the kitchen, they could hear Foxx and Reddman’s laughter as they helped Beth’s parents make cookies. “Wow! Something smells good.”

“Would you like a gingerbread man?” Beth went into the other room and came back with a tray of cookies.

“Thanks.” Hunter munched one, exclaiming when it was hot but continuing to eat. “I didn’t have time for breakfast. Sam was supposed to bring pizza by last night and got held up somewhere else or with
someone
else.”

“He was probably with his boyfriend of the-month.” Peggy rolled her eyes. “I wish that boy would settle down. He told me his grades dropped, and your father yelled at him. I can’t believe he’d give up so easy as much as he wanted to be a doctor.”

Beth laughed. “I suppose when you look like Sam, it’s easy to get distracted.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re supposed to forget your starving sister and drop out of college,” Hunter argued. She drank a glass of milk Foxx brought in for her in one gulp, then looked at Peggy and Beth with a white mustache on her upper lip. “Uh—sorry. Did either of you want some?”

Both women smiled and assured her they didn’t. Peggy handed her a napkin as Hunter opened her briefcase and took out a pen and a yellow legal pad. “Okay, I’m ready. What happened?”

Peggy let Beth tell the story on her own. Hunter took notes and nodded. When Beth was finished, Hunter glanced up at Peggy. “How did
you
get involved with this? Were you here because you’re a friend of the family?”

“Not exactly.”

Hunter made a chuckling sound in the back of her throat. “I thought not. Okay, Peggy. What do you know about all this?”

Peggy told her everything she knew about what happened, including the fact that Alice Godwin found Isabelle dead. She also told her about Cindy Walker being at the house. “She could have made that
B
with her blood after finding her. I don’t know when she got there but she hates Beth enough to want to implicate her.”

After hearing from Peggy, the three women tried to plot a strategy for getting Beth out of trouble. It was difficult since they didn’t have all the information on either case. Hunter finished writing her notes in a broad scrawl across the yellow paper. “There’s nothing anyone can do until they finish the autopsies on Park and Isabelle.”

“Will they do an autopsy on Isabelle even though they know how she died?” Beth looked at Peggy.

“Any questionable death demands an autopsy,” Peggy quoted John. “And that could be good for you. Maybe Isabelle died of natural causes and fell down the steps. The
B
might not mean anything.”

“That doesn’t explain her cane being on the chair,” Hunter reminded her. “Or the dragon’s head missing from it. Of course, we
still
have the chance the old lady died of natural causes and someone found her and moved the cane. Maybe took the dragon’s head since it was probably valuable. Maybe even drew the
B
in her blood to try to implicate Beth. I’ll check out Cindy Walker’s and Alice Godwin’s alibis. We’ll have to wait for the autopsy report and crime scene disclosure. But so will the police.”

“What do I do in the meantime?” Beth asked.

“Don’t talk to anyone unless I’m with you,” Hunter advised as she glanced at her notes. “That means the police, the press. Anybody. Got it?”

“All right,” Beth agreed.

“What about this life insurance policy?” Hunter’s warm blue gaze flashed up to her new client’s face.

“She didn’t know anything about it,” Peggy defended her.

Beth cleared her throat. “That’s not
entirely
true.”

The other two women stared at her.

“Park told me about it. I-I was just so stunned when he died. I forgot.”

“Well, try not to
forget
anything else,” Hunter said, closing her briefcase. “Especially if it involves money. The police are looking for anything out of the ordinary.”

“Lots of our friends have large life insurance policies,” Beth commented. “It’s not out of the ordinary.”

“When the police think you may be responsible for two deaths, everything becomes out of the ordinary. Your life is going to be scrutinized down to the sheets in your linen closet. Don’t keep any secrets for me to find out from them. It will only hurt your case.”

Beth looked away but didn’t reply. Peggy bit her lip, feeling sure there was something else her friend was holding back. “I think there might be something to Alice Godwin working for both Beth and Isabelle.”

“The housekeeper?” Hunter checked her notes. “Wasn’t she here with Beth and the boys during that time?”

“She left here at about nine,” Beth recalled. “If she went out before then, I don’t know about it.”

“Isabelle may have paid her to spy on Beth,” Peggy explained. “I’m not sure how that would relate to everything that’s happened, but Alice had access to both houses.”

“I’ll check into it.” Hunter got to her feet. “If you think of anything else, let me know.”

Beth stood and held out her hand. “Thank you for coming. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You’re welcome.” Hunter’s face turned a little red. “Uh—there’s a little thing about a retainer.” She named a figure. “I hope that’s not a problem.”

Peggy was astonished. “That’s ridiculous!”

Hunter immediately backed down. “Okay. What do you think is fair?”

“No wonder you don’t have money for food,” Peggy continued. “Your retainer should be
double
that.”

The young attorney glanced at Beth, then back at Peggy. “Maybe we should talk about this later.
Like not in front of the client.
”

Beth laughed as she put her hand on Hunter’s arm. “My husband was a lawyer. Peggy’s right. I’ll get my checkbook, if a personal check is okay?”

“A personal check is fine,” Hunter gushed. “Or any other kind of check. Or I take Visa and MasterCard.”

After Beth gave Hunter a check for the retainer, almost triple the amount she was asking, Peggy hugged her and told her not to worry. “Hunter is very bright. If anyone can get you out of this, she can.”

“Thank you, Peggy.” Beth hugged her tightly, tears in her voice. “I don’t know what I’d do without you right now. Thanks, too, for not getting angry with me when I asked you to investigate Park’s death. I was out of my head.”