Murder at the Bellamy Mansion (25 page)

Aunt Ruby to the rescue.

“
OK,” Jackie said, unable to let go. “We won’t speak of murder. But I do have to tell you that Ron had an interesting conversation with one of Citigroup’s legal counsel. And they had never heard of an outstanding debt owed by the Bellamy Mansion. There was no such debt. Neither did they have any outstanding notes underwritten by their predecessors that had been submitted by Thaddeus Greensleeves. In fact, according to the files at Citigroup, he doesn’t exist.”

“
Are you saying this was all a scam?” I asked, incredulous.

“
Yes,” Jackie responded. “A scam. Cooked up by my deceased husband and Han Cheng!”

“
There seems to be more than one scam being perpetuated in this town,” Melanie declared. “That dreadful Vanessa Holder is suing me for slander. That is all a scam. My lawyer has deposed numerous vendors and has their sworn statements that she demanded two sets of invoices from them: one reflecting the true cost, the other padded for the client. She is finished in this town.”

Melanie turned to me. “Ashley, I want you to tell Nick that Vanessa Holder planned and carried out the party that was held at the Bellamy Mansion on New Year’s Eve. She was at the mansion the night before Willie was wounded. I think she has something to do with that shooting.”

Before I could respond, Scarlett burst out, “Shooting? At the Bellamy Mansion where we are holding the reception?”

Melanie covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh dear lord, I really put my foot in it. I am so sorry, Scarlett.”

“
You didn’t tell me about a shooting,” Scarlett cried.

Aunt Ruby to the rescue again. “That is because, dear heart, the gunman has been arrested and incarcerated. He will not be troubling our town again. Now, your reception is going to be peaceful and elegant and fun.”

“
Yes, Aunt Ruby,” Scarlett said docilely. Then she surprised us by bursting out in laughter. “I thought this was such a peaceful, sweet little town. I live right in the heart of bustling Manhattan. But New York City is tame compared to Wilmington!”

I turned to Esther. She was comfortably plump and pretty, wearing a bright pink suit with a pink and white stripped ruffled blouse underneath. An outfit she undoubtedly wore to church.

“
Esther,” I began, “as the two branches of the Hudson family are now speaking to each other, can you tell us what the feud was about? Do you know?”

Esther chuckled. “Do I know? ‘Course, I know. It was over me!”

“
You?” I asked.

“
Well yes. Suppose I know that. You see, the Hudson boys - my Willie and his brother Abinah - were always competitive. We all met at Williston High School. Willie and I were in the same class. Abinah was a grade above us. Abinah ‘liked’ me, as we used to say in those days. He began courting me, taking me to dances, bringing me flowers.”

She laughed, and fanned her face with a cloth napkin. “At every dance, Willie would cut in. Me oh my, but was he a handsome dude. And so smart . . . and so loveable. But I was determined to study hard and make good grades, maybe go to college. So I kept them both at arm’s length.

“
Then Abinah graduated. I remember that summer so well. Like it was just yesterday.”

“
I know what you mean,” Aunt Ruby said. “The days do run together in a rush, don’t they, Esther?”

“
So what happened next?” I asked Esther.

“
Abinah had been admitted to Chapel Hill. And he had his heart set on law school, after undergraduate school. He asked me to wait for him. To be his girl. And we’d date when he came home on school breaks, he said. And he’d write me every day.”

“
He was gone, and Willie was here,” Melanie said knowingly.

“
That’s right, Melanie. And sure ‘nuff, I was partial to Willie. Oh, he’d flash me that big smile of his and just take my breath away. My heart would just go pitty-pat till I thought I would swoon. Swept me off my feet, he did.

“
We married right after graduation. And Abinah never forgave us. Neither one of us.”

“
Not even after he married?” I asked.

“
Not even then. Held a grudge for all of their lives. But now he’s lost his son. First of the Hudson children to die. And he must be mellowing, having second thoughts.

“
I was listening when Willie called Abinah to express his sorrow about Brian’s passing. And after a while, those two just started chattering away, catching up on more than fifty years of silence.”

“
Thank goodness for that,” Aunt Ruby said.

“
Praise the Lord, I say,” Esther finished.

31

“
Zip me up, Aunt Ruby, please,” I asked and lifted my hair off my neck.

Melanie and I were dressing for Scarlett’s wedding at my house, taking turns in front of my large, antique cheval looking glass. We had matching dresses, silky and red, and very feminine with deep V necklines and long sleeves. But while Melanie’s dress fit her trim figure like a dream, my zipper was stuck.

“
Pull harder, Aunt Ruby,” I said.

“
I’m trying,” she said.

“
Here, let me,” Melanie said, taking hold of the zipper and giving it a yank. “There. That did it.”

To Aunt Ruby she said, “Ashley is finally growing breasts, and she needs to buy new clothes.”

I studied my figure in the mirror. She was right. There they were. I had boobs. I yawned at my reflection.

“
I can’t ever seem to get enough sleep,” I complained. “No matter how early I go to bed.”

Aunt Ruby whirled me around and scrutinized me closely. “Ashley, you have got a look about you. I’ve seen that look before. A certain softness.”

“
Oh, that’s just because she’s getting a lot of good sex,” Melanie said. “Jon can’t keep his hands off her.”

Aunt Ruby sat me down. “Tell me, child. Are your breasts tender?”

“
Yes,” I said, then blushed. “But I thought that was just because of . . . you know . . .”

“
Honeymooning,” Melanie finished.

“
Don’t be embarrassed, dear,” Aunt Ruby said. “We’re all sexual beings. That's the way the good Lord made us.

“
Now, tell me, Ashley dear, when was the last time you had a visit from Aunt Flo.”

“
Aunt Flo?” I asked, bewildered. Who was Aunt Flo? Then I got it. “Oh, you mean . . . Oh, I’m so irregular, Aunt Ruby, always have been. I don’t pay much attention to that.”

“
Well, when was the last time?” Melanie asked, hands on hips.

“
Oh, dear, let’s see. Ohmygosh! It has been a while. Since before the wedding. I completely forgot. I got so caught up in the wedding, and then the honeymoon. And then poor Willie getting shot, and all that has been happening here. I just forgot about that.

“
It’s been . . . a while. Let’s see, almost three months.” I drew in my breath sharply. “Oh, Aunt Ruby,” I breathed, “does that mean? Melanie? Do you think? Could it be?”

Aunt Ruby got up and embraced me. “Sure looks that way to me, dear girl.”

At St. James Church I floated down the aisle on a cloud of utter joy. A baby! Aunt Ruby said I was having a baby. I couldn’t wait to get to the drug store and buy a pregnancy test kit.

I was contemplating how I might break away between the wedding and the reception and run to the CVS for a kit as I reached the side altar. Scarlett and Ray’s wedding was small and private – just family - and they were marrying at the side altar in the smaller space of the sanctuary. I was smiling like crazy; I could feel my mouth stretching to my cheeks. I smiled at Melanie. I smiled at the minister. I especially smiled at Jon who waited at the altar beside a beaming Ray. Jon gave me a loving wink. I couldn’t wait to tell him what Aunt Ruby suspected.

Then the organ segued into Lohengrin and Scarlett appeared. She had on a form fitting ivory lace gown, very Thirties looking, like something Wallace Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, might have worn. I recalled how there were many really upscale vintage clothing stores in New York City and wondered if Scarlett had bought her gown there. Wherever she had acquired it, she looked absolutely gorgeous in it – it was perfect for her. And she looked so happy.

We were all thrilled with Scarlett’s marriage to Ray. Aunt Ruby and Binkie. Cam. And of course Kiki couldn’t be happier. She adored Scarlett.

But on the ride to the church with just Aunt Ruby and me, Melanie had expressed that she hated to see a hunk go off the market.

“
What?” I had asked. “Off the market? You make it sound like he was for sale.”

“
I know, I know,” she had said, “but suppose you liked Cadillacs and you learned that every Cadillac had been sold, that there was not a single one to be found? Wouldn’t you lament the scarcity?”

“
But Melanie,” I said, as if explaining to a child, “you are no longer available.”

Melanie had given me a sharp look. “I just mean that hate it when a beautiful man with lots of money is grabbed up and whisked away.”

I just looked at Aunt Ruby and shook my head, as to ask, “Is she for real?”

But Aunt Ruby surprised me. “I think I know what you mean, Melanie. I once had a terrible crush on a handsome young man, and then I discovered that he was taken, and would never ask me out. I was devastated. I cried for weeks.”

“
Who was he, Aunt Ruby?” I asked. I knew nothing about Aunt Ruby’s love life, but surely she had had one.

“
Well, I don’t know if I should say.”

“
You can trust us, Aunt Ruby,” Melanie said. “We’re family. We’ll never tell, will we, Ashley?”

“
No. I won’t tell.”

“
OK then, if you give me your word. It was Rickie Barrett. Scarlett’s father. But when he saw your mother, he only had eyes for her.

“
And naturally I respected that. Still, you can’t just turn off those feelings like turning water off at the tap. It’s like Esther Hudson said the other day, he made my heart go pitty-pat.

“
A woman can care for a lot of men in her lifetime but the ones that make her heart beat faster are few and far between.”

“
I know just what you mean,” I said, thinking how when I caught a glimpse of Jon my heart started to race.

“
And so do I,” Melanie said. “Still, I’m not blind. And I do admire a manly set of shoulders and slim hips!”

We laughed and parked in front of the church.

32

The reception was just as we had planned, with a Valentine’s heart theme and red and white colors. A tent had been set up in the rear yard of the Bellamy Mansion garden with a buffet and round tables for the guests. The Valentine’s theme continued with the menu, the food that Kimberly had planned.

“
I sure will miss that girl,” Elaine told me as she was refilling the shrimp platter.

“
Is she leaving?” I asked.

“
Yes,” Elaine said. “She found a good job. She’s going to work for one of those global corporations in the information technology department.”

“
Good for her,” I said.

Just then Jon caught my hand and led me away. “I need my girl,” he told Elaine. “There’s dancing on the piazza and they are playing our song.”

“
At Last” was being played by the DJ Melanie had hired. Jon put his arms around me and started to dance.

“
I have something to tell you,” I said.

“
And I have something to tell you,” he said.

“
You first,” I said.

“
Listening to Scarlett and Ray exchange their wedding vows, I thought how grateful I was that you said yes to me. Thank you for marrying me, Ashley. I’ll always love you. Always have and I always will.”

“
Oh, Jon, you touch me to the bottom of my heart.”

The music ended. “What did you want to tell me?”

“
I have . . .”

“
Come on, you two,” Cam called. “The photographer is taking pictures of the bridal party. You’re needed inside the mansion. Right away.”

“
What were you about to say?” Jon asked as we stepped inside the open front door.

I smiled at him. “It can wait, darling. Later.”

After the photographs, Ray corralled Cam and Jon and led them out onto the piazza for a man-to-man talk. What was that about, I thought as I watched them huddle, shoulder to shoulder. Melanie was right: there was something to be said for a set of manly broad shoulders and slim hips. But when would I get to tell Jon my exciting news?

I was feeling hungry and now that I suspected I was pregnant, I was not denying myself food. I was eating for two and I would enjoy every bite.

I went down the outside stairs into the garden and into the tent. I filled my plate and carried it over to one of the tables where I had left my purse in a chair.

As I sat down, my cell phone rang inside my purse. I should have turned it off. I retrieved my phone from my purse and saw that someone had been calling me from the same number repeatedly. Must be important.

I answered the phone.

“
Ashley, it’s Nick. I’ve been trying to reach you. Don’t you ever answer your phone?”