Hollyhock Ridge (10 page)

“So what you’re saying is you’re not exactly excited about
your new job.”

“Obviously,” he said. “What I’m also saying is life is messy
and people screw up but the beauty is you can also be redeemed. I don’t mean as
in ‘go to church and get saved.’ I mean you can decide things are going to be
different, and then make it so.”

“Is that what you’re doing?”

“It’s what we’re both doing,” he said. “I think you can only
have real compassion for someone like me or you if you’ve been someone like me
or you. The Scoopster has never been anything but an upstanding model citizen.
How could he understand?”

“I wanted to tell him,” she said. “I started to more than
once.”

“Don’t tell him,” Laurie said. “Don’t tell him and don’t
pine for him. He’s not the guy for you, Claire. If you can’t be yourself, it’s
no good even trying.”

“And you are the guy for me, I suppose.”

“I’m probably the worst person you could choose,” he said,
“and yet I desperately want to call you ‘sweetheart.’ I don’t understand your
penchant for huge handbags and insanely elevated footwear, but I’m willing to
accept those quirks as part of the package. I don’t want to hurt you, Claire,
but I’m bound to do so, sooner or later. I know all this about myself, and yet
I can’t seem to quit following you around town like some lovesick teenager.”

“You still drink,” Claire said. “I’ve seen you in the
Thorn.”

“It’s under control.”

“I didn’t think that was possible for alcoholics.”

“It’s possible for me.”

“Here it is,” she said, as they came upon the first storage
unit facility on the list.

“So we’ve concluded it would be a huge mistake, you and me,”
he said, as they parked by the office. “A catastrophe of epic proportions.”

She turned to face him, and was struck by his pained expression.

“Let’s not have sex,” she said. “Let’s just be friends
instead.”

He shook his head.

“No offense, Claire, but I don’t think I could bear the
proximity without the intimacy.”

“So we won’t be anything to each other,” Claire said.

“Except we already are,” he said. “We’re only human, after
all. What more can we expect?”

Diedre did not have a unit rented at this first place. At
the third place they came to, the manager recognized her photo. He led them to
a storage unit on the back side of the property, unlocked the garage door, and
rolled it up.

“Oh my goodness,” Claire said.

“Will you look at that,” the manager said.

The unit was packed from floor to ceiling, wall to wall,
with every kind of thing you could collect. Boxes, furniture, rolled-up rugs,
toys, bicycles; you name it, it was crammed into this space. But there was no
treadle sewing machine.

“When was the last time you saw Mrs. Delvecchio?” Laurie
asked him.

“Several months ago,” he said. “There was still snow on the
ground. Her station wagon got stuck in the mud and we had to pull her out.”

“Let’s press on,” Laurie said.

“What do you mean?” Claire said. “We found it.”

“We found one,” Laurie said, “and it’s full. There’ll be
more.”

At the third place on the list they found another unit
Diedre had rented, and at the fourth place they found Diedre.

Claire sat in the truck with the windows rolled down while
the county morgue staff took away Diedre’s body. She was feeling pretty queasy
at her stomach, having just thrown up her Salad Niçoise in the bushes at the
edge of the property.

She recognized County Investigator Sarah Albright when she
arrived, and hoped to avoid her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t so lucky. Sarah
followed Laurie over to the truck.

“Good afternoon, Miss Fitzpatrick,” she said.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Albright,” Claire said.

“Chief Purcell, here, tells me he gave you a ride to this
facility out of the goodness of his heart, and that in the process of speaking
to the manager about procuring a unit for yourself, you happened to mention the
deceased.”

Claire didn’t understand why Laurie wasn’t telling Sarah the
truth, but she instantly backed him up.

“That’s right,” Claire said. “I’m having my things shipped
from California, and I need a storage unit.”

“Decided to stick around, huh?”

“Mm hmm.”

“I guess Chief Gordon’s still on his honeymoon.”

“That’s right.”

“Old Maggie finally got the matrimonial noose around his
neck,” she said with a smirk.

Claire just stared at Sarah until the woman flushed and
looked away. Laurie cleared his throat and tried not to smile. Fire Chief
Malcolm Behr arrived and Laurie walked away to greet him.

“He still on the sauce?” Sarah asked.

“I beg your pardon,” Claire said.

“Changing jobs won’t change anything,” Sarah said. “Until he
hits rock bottom and gets some help he’ll just keep making the same mistakes.”

“None of your business, really.”

“You’ll see,” Sarah said. “He’ll take you down with him if
you’re not careful.”

“You seem to think you know everything there is to know.”

“I do,” Sarah said. “I was one of the people he hurt on his
way down.”

“Excuse me?”

“After his wife died, I eased his pain, so to speak, for a
little while. Smart guy, Laurie; he’s a lot of fun to talk to but rubbish in
the sack. That’s the problem with alkies, you know. They can’t keep it up.”

“I don’t want to hear anymore,” Claire said. “Please stop.”

“I’m just sayin’ …” she said. “Watch yourself.”

Claire turned away, rolled up the window to the truck, and
tried not to visualize everything Sarah had just told her, but it was too late.

On the way back to Rose Hill, Claire’s head was so full of
conflicting thoughts she lost the ability to form a sentence.

“Mystery solved,” Laurie said, finally. “Thank you for your
capable assistance.”

“Where’s her car?” Claire said.

“What?”

“Where’s the station wagon?”

“Good point,” he said. “You think someone murdered her by
dropping a sewing machine on her head in order to steal her vintage station
wagon.”

Claire shrugged.

“It’s a loose end.”

“What happened back there?” he asked. “Did good ole Sarah
fill your head full of nonsense about me?”

“She warned me about you.”

“So concerned was she about your emotional well-being, that,
as a caring, compassionate woman-friend, she felt compelled to alert you to my
unworthiness as a potential partner.”

“I dislike Sarah, and I don’t trust her,” Claire said. “But
it’s one thing for you to say you were a reckless drunk for a couple years, and
another to talk to one of the women you fooled around with during that time.”

“There were more than a few,” he said. “I could give you a
list.”

“I don’t like this about myself,” Claire said. “I’m jealous
even though I know it’s petty and mean.”

“I’m just glad you care,” he said.

“I’ll have to introduce you to my ex-husband, Pip,” Claire
said. “Then you might understand why I’m so screwed up.”

“Pip Deacon is your ex-husband? Stoner dude Pip Deacon is
Prince Shit-for-brains?”

“King Dipshit is his formal title,” Claire said. “You know
him?”

“Oh, Lord,” Laurie said, and then laughed a little too long
and loud for Claire’s taste.

“I’d say we’re even,” he finally sputtered, and then
smothered some more laughter.

“I was only seventeen when we met,” Claire said.

“And I was forty-two when I met Daphne,” Laurie said, and
shrugged. “It just goes to show you can be a fool at any age.”

“Why didn’t you want Sarah to know you were investigating
Diedre’s disappearance?”

“You change subjects with rapier-like speed.”

“Tell me.”

“Less paperwork,” he said, with a shrug. “This way, Sarah
gets credit for finding the missing woman, and gets her name in the paper, but
she also has to do all the heavy lifting. All I had to do was give her my
statement and now I’m done. Her work just got started.”

“I think it’s because you feel bad about the way you treated
her.”

“Part of some kind of atonement initiative, you presume.”

“Isn’t that one of the steps?”

Laurie gave a Claire a look that could have cut glass. It
was the first time she’d been at the receiving end of his anger and contempt,
and she could feel her face flush.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said.

“It seems to work for other people.”

“Other people can believe in a higher power,” he said.

“C’mon,” Claire said. “You don’t believe in any kind of
creator.”

“Intelligent or otherwise,” he said.

“Just nothing.”

“I believe human existence is a long, lonely slog through
pain and sorrow, experiencing loss after loss, only to end up mentally and
physically crippled before dying an undignified death.”

“That’s the saddest thing I ever heard.”

“And I wonder why everyone doesn’t drink.”

As soon as they got back to town, Claire walked up Peony
Street toward Kay’s house, intending to give Kay the news about Diedre. As she
passed Machalvie’s Funeral Home, she noticed the former mayor, Stuart
Machalvie, former bank president, Knox Rodefeffer, and Knox’s brother, Realtor
Trick Rodefeffer, having an argument in the back parking lot. As soon as they
saw Claire they quieted, so when Claire reached Kay’s house, the back of which
was shielded from Machalvie’s parking lot by thick hedges on the other side of
the alley, she quickly skirted around to the back yard of the house and knelt
down by the hedges to listen.

“Congressman Green is no longer returning my phone calls,”
Stuart said. “I can’t even get his personal secretary on the phone.”

“Senator Bayard’s staff is doing the same thing to me,” Knox
said. “I guess they’re hanging us out to dry.”

“I’ve got reporters calling me all hours of the day and
night, and the feds came to my office yesterday,” Trick said. “I don’t know
about you guys, but I’m scared.”

“I’ve got one piece of advice for you two,” Stuart said.
“Listen to your attorneys. If they say keep your mouth shut, keep it shut.
Don’t talk to anybody without their approval, and don’t say anything they
haven’t advised you to say.”

“Easy for you to say,” Knox said. “You’re not being accused
of murder.”

“Because you told Courtenay to give Aunt Mamie the tea,”
Trick said. “That’s what killed her, Knox.”

“I had no way of knowing that tea would interact with all
the medications she was taking. I’m telling you, I thought I was doing
something nice for the old bat.”

“So why didn’t you take it to her?” Trick asked. “Why send
your mistress?”

“I knew Mamie would just ask me for money,” Knox said. “I
was tired of hearing it.”

“What happened to all her money?” Trick asked. “Sandy heard
you were embezzling it through the bank.”

“Boys, I don’t want to hear this,” Stuart said. “This is
your family’s business. I’ll see you later.”

Claire heard Stuart walk away, get in his car, and drive
off.

“You need to lay off the sauce,” Knox said. “You’re gonna
get us all arrested.”

“Just tell me,” Trick said. “Did you mean to kill Aunt
Mamie?”

“No, of course not,” Knox said.

“Where’s her trust money?”

“All gone,” Knox said. “She put it up as collateral on a
second mortgage and she defaulted. She was broke.”

“That’s not what people are saying …”

“I don’t care what people are saying, and if you had any
sense you’d tell that wife of yours to keep her mouth shut.”

“So why did Courtenay get murdered?”

“That crazy assistant of Anne Marie’s did that,” Knox said.

“But he says Anne Marie was working with you.”

“He’s lying,” Knox asked. “I’d hardly go into business with
my ex-wife, and I ended the affair with Courtenay back in the spring, so I had
no reason to cause her harm. It’s more likely that my current wife would try to
kill Courtenay; she’s the homicidal maniac in the family.”

“Where is Meredith?”

“Gone for good, I hope,” Knox said. “Listen, my life’s on
the line, Trick; my freedom’s in jeopardy. We’ve got to form a united front on
this. You’ll be expected to testify on my behalf. We’ve got to get our stories
straight.”

“The truth, you mean.”

“Yes, of course that’s what I mean.”

“It looked bad,” Trick said. “You didn’t see Aunt Mamie. It
was like something out of a horror movie. It looked like she died in pain.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Knox said. “I’m sick of going
over this with you. You’ve got to pull yourself together, little brother.”

“The FBI wants to interview me.”

“Call the attorneys,” Knox said. “They’ll prep you and go
with you.”

“I just want it all to go away.”

“You and me both,” said Knox. “I’ve got to get on the road.
Are you all right to drive?”

“I’m fine,” Trick said. “You go on.”

“Just keep it together a little while longer,” Knox said.
“And for God’s sake don’t drink so much. You look terrible.”

Claire could hear them get in their cars and leave. When she
stood up and turned around, Kay was standing right behind her. Startled, she
jumped, and clasped her hand to her heart.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on a hungover person,” Claire said.
“I’m liable to puke on you.”

“That was certainly an interesting conversation,” Kay said.
“Come inside. I’ve got something to show you.”

Once inside the house, Kay went back to the bedroom and
returned with a thick file folder full of documents. She sat down at the dining
room table and patted the folder.

“Trick mentioned Knox had been accused of embezzling from
his Aunt Mamie,” Kay said. “I think I know where the money went.”

Kay took out a sheaf of what looked like bank statements
paper-clipped together.