Give First Place to Murder (10 page)

I watched them out the door. I turned back to see Susannah looking thoughtfully at the unpacked trunk.

"You wouldn't." I said. "Tell me you're not…"

"I'm not. I'm not as compulsive as Linda. I'm going home and I'm going to shower, long and hard, then sit in the back yard and let Neil serve me hamburgers and potato salad."

"Hamburgers. Potato salad. Oh my God, I forgot. What time is it?" My watch announced it was after 5:00. "I still have to go to the store. Everyone’s coming to our house for--. How did you know? You were gone this morning."

"Guess."

"It was either Aunt Mary or Neil. Neil?"

She grinned. "You got it. If anyone's there, I'll tell them you'll be along just as soon as you get the buns. Do we have cheese?"

I assured her we did, and with one last quick look around we both left.

The party had started without me. Dan stood in front of my open refrigerator door, a beer in each hand. I let the screen door slam as I staggered into the kitchen loaded down with sacks.

"You’re late. It’s after six.”

“
The grocery store was packed.”

“
Did you remember to get charcoal?" He watched me heave the sacks onto the counter.

Silently I pointed toward the back porch.

"Great." He planted a quick kiss on my cheek. "Should I start the barbecue now?"

"No. Give me a few." I stifled a sigh. My feet hurt, so did my shoulders, and I was thinking I didn’t want to shuck corn or make hamburger patties.

"Gotcha. I'll just go give this to Carl."

"Do that."

Dan stopped, one foot holding the screen door open. "Aren't you coming?"

"Soon, soon." I listened to the screen slam again.

"Why are you standing there staring at those sacks?"

I hadn't heard Susannah come downstairs, but there she was, long, tanned legs showing under white shorts, dark hair damply curling, violet eyes quizzing me.

"I was thinking."

“
About what?”

“
How happy I’d be if I never found another dead body.”

"You’re safe. There aren’t any in the back yard, but there’s a bunch of live ones. Everyone's here and probably starved. At least I am." She started pulling things out of the sacks and putting them in cupboards or stacking them on the counter. "OK. Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. Way to go, Mom."

The screen door slammed again and Pat and Aunt Mary appeared. Pat looked trim and fit in light blue slacks and a white tee shirt. Aunt Mary looked like an early tribute to a Fourth of July parade. I gasped, Susannah swallowed a giggle, and we immediately started to talk about hamburger patties.

"I get the feeling you're impressed." Aunt Mary ran her hands down the legs of her satin finish, bright red pants. The American flag fluttered across her front, rising and falling in time with her breathing. I expected drums to roll and fifes to sound any moment.

"Impressed is a good word. Where did you get it?"

"At the Methodist rummage sale last week."

"Of course. Let me guess. You were chairwoman of the sale committee, right?"

She nodded.

"And that outfit wasn't going to sell and you felt guilty.”

"The lady who brought it looked so disappointed when it was still there. It’s my size so I bought it. After all, we were raising money for the women's shelter."

"Are you doing any more soon?" I eyed her outfit, hoping there wouldn’t be any more until after Christmas. Her wardrobe consisted entirely of things purchased in the name of charity and then, of course, worn because you couldn't waste perfectly good money. Could you? I was afraid the same rule might apply to Christmas presents.

"Not soon.” Aunt Mary smiled a little. “Susannah, give me the corn. I'll shuck it outside. I could use a refill when one of you brings out the wine bottle."

"Do you think we just got told to get a move on?" Pat laughed. “Here. These patties are ready for the refrigerator.”

"Sounds like it. I like the wine part. Grab a couple of glasses and let’s go outside."

"Go on," Pat said. "I've got a few little snacks I'll bring."

I glanced at the plate she pulled out and quickly snatched a shrimp before following Susannah and the drinks into the back yard.

Dan, Carl and Neil all stood around the barbecue, talking in low tones.

“
What are you talking about?” Susannah asked.

“
Nothing.” Dan tried to look innocent. He didn’t succeed.

“
Charcoal.” Carl said hurriedly. “How much we’re going to need.”

Neil broke away to take the tray from Susannah and put it on the table. He poured a glass

of wine and offered it to me, letting Susannah pop the top off her Classic Coke by herself.

"Here, Mrs. McKenzie. Sit down here."

"Her name’s Ellen, and she's not crippled," my compassionate daughter told him. She transferred her gaze from the two older men to him.

Neil looked a little uncomfortable. I quickly said, "By all means, call me Ellen," and sank gratefully on the offered chair.

"Ellen." Neil didn’t wound very comfortable with it. If he was going to stick around, and he gave every indication he planned on it, he’d have to get used to it. Mrs. McKenzie no longer sounded good to me.

“
You've had quite a day. Isn't the Valley Oak Clinic the greatest? I could spend hours there."

Neil was a vet student. Of course he’d be content to spend hours there. A sentiment I didn’t share. If I hadn’t been so tired, I’d have been suspicious about that statement for other reasons. It sounded a lot like subject changing. What had those men been discussing they didn’t want to share? I decided I didn’t care and munched my shrimp.

"What were you doing at Valley Oak?" Carl asked.

"Neil made Mom go with Irma when she took a mare in for colic surgery." Susannah watched Neil out of the corner of her eye, a faint smile tickling the corners of her mouth. .

Pat set a tray loaded with shrimp, avocado, crackers and some kind of wonderful dip in the middle of the table. I immediately helped myself.

"Why you?" Pat asked, passing out napkins. "You don't know a thing about horses."

At the same time Neil was telling Susannah, "I did not make her go."

"Did too."

"Who did what?" Aunt Mary, who had taken the shucked corn into the kitchen, was back with a tray of fruit, cheese and French bread. I wondered where she had gotten all the food. Certainly not out of my refrigerator.

"Neil made Mom go with Irma to the vet clinic. One of her mares colicked and they had to do surgery. None of the rest of us could leave."

"I'm glad you did." Aunt Mary handed me a cracker with cheese on top. "Irma's had a terrible year and what she doesn't need is more stress. Having someone sympathetic to talk to always helps."

"What you two see in horses, I don't know." I addressed that to Susannah and Neil, a little more crossly than I had intended. "As far as I can see they’re nothing but hard work, tension, and turmoil."

"You haven't seen the fun parts," Neil told me earnestly.

"Which are?" Aunt Mary asked.

"Showing is fun. And the foals. They're fun."

"Tons," Carl said. "First you have the agony of trying to get the mare in foal, then you wait eleven months for the great event. When you think it might be time, you spend night after night in the barn waiting for the old girl to do her thing, only to find that she spit it out while you were in the house having a cup of coffee. Horses are perverse animals."

"If it's such an agony, why does Irma keep doing it?" Dan popped two more beer cans and handed one to Carl.

"It's an addiction.” Carl took a deep swallow of his beer. “She loves her dogs and cats, but she's addicted to horses."

"Addiction seems to be a key word around here." Pat refilled our wine glasses. She tipped the bottle up, examined the few drops left and poured them into Aunt Mary's glass.

"What do you mean?" Carl watched her put the empty bottle on the table and took another long drink of his beer. “If you’re referring to me--.”

Pat laughed. “You have a couple of beers a week, and only if you’re not on call. I don’t think that’s much of an addiction. No, I was thinking about Bryce, about what Susannah said yesterday. And about that poor boy, Rusty,"

"I'm not sure Rusty was worth wasting sympathy on."

"Why, Dan Dunham. I’m surprised at you. Everyone is worth sympathy." Aunt Mary genuinely believed that. I wasn’t so sure I had as much charity in me as she did. I’d never met Rusty but I had met Bryce and while he aroused many emotions in me, and everyone else around him, sympathy wasn’t one of them.

"Maybe so," Dan grudgingly admitted, "but the Rustys of this world make it hard . I’ll save my sympathy for their victims. That kid was peddling dope to his friends when he was in grade school.” His eyes took on a steely look as he talked. “I wonder how many got hooked because they were curious, or thought it would be fun to try.” He paused a moment, as if to make sure what he said came out right “Rusty was no good and he hurt a lot of people, but that doesn't excuse murder. We’re going to catch whoever did it, but I'm not going to grieve because he's gone."

"The Bryces aren't too safe either." Pat settled herself in a chair next to Carl. "He impressed me as a selfish, arrogant young man, a user. Maybe he won't hurt people the same way Rusty did, by selling them drugs or robbing them, but he'll leave a lot of misery behind."

Neil nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, he's sure not doing Stephanie any favors. Every time I go over to Irma's, there she is, hanging on him. I can't figure what he wants her for, but whatever it is, when he's done, he'll dump her."

"Stephanie." Aunt Mary tilted her glass up and looked thoughtfully at the remains, then finished them off. "Would that be Stephanie Knudsen?"

"How did you know?" Susannah seemed surprised.

Pat and I glanced at each other, but we shouldn't have. It was hard to keep a straight face. Of course she knew.

"Money’s what he sees in her.” She frowned. “The Knudsens have a lot and Fiona spends it. Especially on Stephanie. I think she's compensating." She took a piece of French bread, put a little cheese on top, and bit down hard.

"Compensating for what?"

"Her guilt feelings. Stephanie’s not exactly the prettiest child and she’s always been a little, well, hefty."

"Robust," murmured Pat.

"Yes." Aunt Mary almost smiled. "Very tactfully put. Anyway, Heidi, Stephanie's younger sister, is all the things Fiona expected in a daughter. Tiny, pretty, sweet. And smart. So Fiona never disciplined Stephanie, never made her control her wicked temper, never said no to anything. Don't feel sorry for this Bryce. He may be a user, but he sounds weak. Stephanie’s single minded, selfish, and strong. If Bryce doesn't do what Stephanie wants, well, he'll be the one to feel sorry for.”

"Say good-bye to Bryce's drug habit." Pat laughed. "If he has one. It sounds like Susannah heard right, Stephanie’s set to take away his toys."

"This is all very interesting." I finished the last of the wine in my glass and reached for the last shrimp as well. "Dan, you still haven't told us who you think killed Rusty. You must have some idea by now." I wasn’t happy with this conversation and wanted reassurance that Rusty's death had nothing to do with anyone connected to Irma's barn.

Dan twirled his can around, tilted it to check how much was left, took a deep swallow, and sighed with exaggerated satisfaction. We all waited, saying nothing. Finally, he couldn't stand it. "You know I can't talk about an ongoing investigation."

"For God's sake, Dan, we're involved. Sort of. We aren't asking for state secrets, but you can at least tell us if you have a suspect outside of, ah..."

"Irma's people?" Dan's smile said he understood how I felt and didn’t think my worry for Susannah was stupid. Brian wouldn’t have smiled. He would have sneered. I smiled back at Dan and very slightly nodded.

"Oh course it's not any of us.” Susannah either hadn’t caught that little exchange or had chosen to ignore it. “The only one who could possibly be a suspect is Bryce, the little creep, and he was in the show ring."

"Or sweet Stephanie," murmured Pat.

"Where was Stephanie?" I hadn’t thought about her until then but from the way she had acted--. "I don't remember seeing her until we got back to the barn."

"No one seems to know." Dan sort of threw that in, but I looked up quickly. They’d been asking around about her?

"How do you know that?" I asked him. "Do you know where everyone was?"

"Well, I know you and Pat were in the stands."

Pat gasped a little. After a quick intake of breath I had to laugh. "Nice to know we aren't suspects. Who else?"

"Susannah and Irma were with you and Bryce was in the ring. That leaves only one other person unaccounted for."

"You've got to be kidding," Susannah said at the same time Neil protested, "No way."

"Hey." Dan threw up his hands. "You asked if I knew where everyone was and I'm telling you. I don't. That's all. But it would be nice to know. It's always so much tidier when you can eliminate people."