The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club - Book One (27 page)

“I don’t understand.”

“It was a trap, Edna. To catch you in the
act.”

“You knew it was me?”

“We were almost positive.”

“But how?”

“Lill analyzed your handwriting. You’re
intelligent and patient but you also have a wide streak of
larceny.”

“Yes, I suppose I do. But didn’t you suspect
Eddie?”

“Of course. But he’s just your ordinary,
everyday petty thief who isn’t very bright. It was much too clever
a plan for Eddie.”

“Not so clever, it turns out,” she said with
a sigh. “There’s no proof Eddie was even involved since Amanda
picked up the ransom.”

“We do have evidence he drugged me.”

“That was my doing as well. I’m sorry about
that, Josephine, but we wanted to make sure you slept soundly while
Eddie was moving the painting. We didn’t want to frighten you.”

I sat staring at her in surprise. Her tone
seemed sincere and apologetic. Definitely not the Edna I thought I
knew.

“Are you sorry for what you did?” I found I
wanted to understand what made her tick.

She chewed on her lip, and her eyes filled
with tears that she swiped at impatiently. “These last few days,
I’ve seen myself through Baxter and Amanda’s eyes, and I discovered
I don’t like myself very much. I used to think I was a person who
righted wrongs, like punishing my sister for hurting Jonquil. But
since this happened.” She stopped speaking and shook her head.

Although I’d been ready to disbelieve
whatever she said, I saw nothing sly or calculating in her
expression. She had trouble looking me in the eye, but that seemed
to be more from embarrassment than because she was trying to
mislead me. If it was an act, it was a darn good one.

“I’ve hurt people, you see. And that’s made
me a not very nice person. Or a happy one. What I did to my sister
and Charles . . . he never loved me, you know. Not that I
expected him to. But I didn’t realize how hard . . .” She
shook her head sharply. “Baxter and Amanda made up for some of
that. I love my son. And I love Amanda dearly.” She looked away,
obviously struggling for composure.

Again, I considered the possibility it was
all an act. But if it was, she’d missed her calling. No, I was
positive what I was seeing was sincere regret.

“Was Amanda angry with you?”

Edna shook her head. “Worse. She was
disappointed. So was Baxter.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I deserve it, you see. Here I am,
eighty-three years old, and I’ve only now been able to admit I
don’t like myself. Do you have any idea how awful that feels? I’ve
been stupid and arrogant and self-righteous. I always thought I
knew the right thing to do about what I considered the wrongs
others committed. But taking your painting, that was over the line.
It wasn’t righting a wrong. There’s no way I can justify it. Not
even to help Amanda.”

She stopped speaking, her head shaking from
side to side. “Worst of all, I have no idea if I can be a better
person.” She paused and took a shuddery breath. “That scares me
more than . . . dying.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

She sat for a moment, staring at her tea.
“That’s the difficult part, isn’t it? Easy to confess my sins, not
so easy doing the penance. But I’ve already apologized to Amanda
and Baxter. And I want to apologize to you as well, Josephine.” She
glanced up at me. “I’m sorry I viewed you as an impediment and a
way to get something, and not as a person whose friendship I should
have valued.”

I examined Edna, seeking any sign she was
calibrating her answers to please me. I didn’t see any. While I
knew Edna could steal, I didn’t think she was a liar, although
there was that whopper she’d told Charles.

“You do realize, I can refuse to press
charges against you. At least, about my part in this. You’d still
be charged in the other thefts.”

There was a flare of hope in her eyes, but
then it died. “No, I think you should press charges. It probably
doesn’t matter anyway, since the police already have my confession.
Accepting my punishment without feeling sorry for myself—if I do
that, then maybe I’ll be able to earn Amanda and Baxter’s respect.
Besides, it’s time I suffered the consequences for my actions.”

“I believe you already have.”

“Not everything I deserve.”

“Maybe not. But what good will it do if you
spend your remaining time on the planet wallowing in guilt?”

She looked up, eyes wide.

“You’ve been given a gift, Edna. One not
many receive. That of seeing yourself clearly. Don’t waste it.”

Like I did
, I could have added. For
were her sins any blacker than my own? I’d been dishonest as well.
I hadn’t loved Thomas, but I’d been unwilling to divorce him and
live a more authentic life. And I’d let Thomas come between Jeff
and me, and made few attempts to put it right.

I sighed, set my cup down with a decisive
click, and left Edna ruminating on her sins.

~ ~ ~

I took the rest of the weekend to think about it, then I went to
see Mr. Souter first thing Monday morning.

“Good morning, Mrs. Bartlett. What can I do
you for?”

I find many modern expressions vacuous and
none more than the one he’d just used, although he got points for
using the proper form of address.

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

“Shoot.”

Another modern expression that needs to be
. . . well, shot.

“I wanted to let you know, I won’t be
pressing charges against Edna about either the ransom demand or the
drugging.”

“I see. Why not?”

“There are extenuating circumstances.”

“And those are?”

“She was doing it to help with her
granddaughter’s college expenses. It was an unselfish act, you
see.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“Of course not. But she’s made a full
confession and accepted complete responsibility.”

“I suppose that’s a start. Although if it
were up to me, I’d prosecute her to the fullest extent possible.
She did, after all, damage Brookside’s reputation.”

“I doubt that. If word gets out, and it
might, of course, you can say the items were taken by a resident
who suffers from kleptomania, but that she has agreed to let you
check her apartment whenever something is reported missing.”

“But she hasn’t. Agreed, that is. And she
won’t need to since she’s leaving. By the end of the week.”

“Yes, I want to speak with you about that.
You see, since she’s already returned the items she stole or made
restitution, it’s likely she’ll receive a suspended sentence. And
if she does, I intend to pay her expenses so she can stay
here.”

“What? Why would you do that?”

“Because I want to.” And I’ve been prevented
most of my life from doing what I want to do and I’m tired of it.
“I’ll need your cooperation since I don’t want Edna to know I’m
paying.”

“But what do I tell her?”

“Tell her that Brookside has just received a
bequest to establish, um, you can call it the Babbling Brook
Perpetuity Fund. It’s purpose is to provide financial assistance to
residents who can no longer afford to live here.”

“But we have more deserving recipients of
such assistance than Edna.”

“People who are facing eviction, you
mean?”

“We hate to do it, but sometimes
. . .”

“Is there anyone else at risk right now,
besides Edna?”

“One or two, I believe.”

“Get me the details, and I’ll consider
expanding the fund. Now, about Edna. I want you to inform her that
her fees, including meals, will be paid from this point on by the
Babbling Brook Perpetuity Fund.” I rather liked the way the name
rolled off my tongue.

He sat back, resting his hand against his
chin. Then he shook his head. “This is most irregular.”

“It is, isn’t it? I rather like that aspect
of it.” I sat back as well. “Now for another pressing matter. Eddie
Colter. Have you fired him yet?”

“What? No, of course not. Why would I?”

“Because he knowingly and with intent gave
me a drugged cream puff. And he entered my apartment without my
permission and removed my painting from the wall, making it appear
it was stolen.”

“Do you have any proof of either of those
allegations?”

“I have a full confession from his
accomplice.”

“Yes. Edna Prisant. For all I know, she
implicated Eddie to lessen her own punishment.”

“You don’t intend to fire him?”

“Without proof of any wrongdoing
. . .” He shrugged.

I snapped my mouth shut and shook my head.
“You do know that Eddie’s been stealing from his grocery customers?
And when confronted about it, he claimed to have a daughter who has
leukemia.”

His expression was so shocked, I knew he had
no idea what had been going on right under his nose.

“I have affidavits from the people Eddie
stole from. There’s your proof. And let’s not forget he assaulted
Ms. Subramanian.”

“As to that, it’s being litigated. I can’t
take any action until the matter is resolved by the courts.”

“There are still the affidavits.”

“I haven’t seen them, have I? Besides, we
have policies and procedures to follow before we can fire
someone.”

His attitude boggled my mind. But only
briefly. “How about this for a procedure? Either you fire Eddie, or
he resigns today and drops his suit against Ms. Subramanian, or I
will call the
Cincinnati Enquirer.
I expect this is exactly
the kind of juicy story one of their reporters would love to sink
their teeth into.”

I’d never seen someone blanch that way
before. I confess it was most impressive.

~ ~ ~

As we used to say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. That
has to be a very messy activity, not unlike what I was
attempting.

I left Mr. Souter’s office, still uncertain
whether he would get rid of his nephew, and went searching for
Eddie myself. I found him using the community computer.

Entering the room, I closed the door and
took a seat across from him. “I’m here to talk to you about the
plot you and Edna hatched to steal my painting. I’d like you to
explain your part in it.”

He chewed on his lip for a time as if
gauging my mood. Then he cleared his throat.

“I . . . I’m very sorry for what
happened, Mrs. Bartlett.”

“And that was?” I said, prompting him as if
he were a six-year-old just learning about apologies.

“I’m sorry, for, uh, moving the painting.
And the, uh, the other thing.”

“Other thing?”

“My lawyer told me not to talk about
it.”

“Yes. That’s usually excellent advice.
However, right now what you need to do is convince me you’re
sincerely sorry. Otherwise, I intend to press charges to the
fullest extent possible.” Mac had told me any case against Eddie
would be circumstantial, even with Edna’s testimony and mine, but I
wasn’t letting uncertainty about specific details affect my
ultimatum.

He cocked his head, blinking. “You’re saying
you might not press charges?”

“I know Edna put the drugs in the cream
puff. But you gave it to me, knowing it contained those drugs.”

After a pause, he nodded. “We wanted to make
sure you didn’t wake up. She told me the drug she was using was
basically harmless.”

“It’s rarely harmless to give someone a
substance that renders them unconscious.”

“Yes, ma’am. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry you did it, or sorry you were
caught?”

“Both, I guess.”

“Hmm. Honesty. An interesting strategy for
you. But I’m more concerned about your treatment of Ms. Subramanian
than I am by what you did to me.”

I gave him a moment to contemplate that
before I said the rest.

“I propose a trade. You drop the suit,
resign your position here, apologize to those you’ve hurt, and I
won’t press charges against you.”

He chewed on his lip while I sat and
watched.

I stood. “Well, that’s that. I’ll be
speaking with Detective McElroy about appropriate charges. And I
will also be testifying in your suit. I doubt the jury will be
swayed in your favor after learning you drugged me so you could
steal my painting.”

“But I didn’t steal your painting.”

“Eddie, Eddie, this is not the time to
contradict me on minor details.” I turned to leave.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll resign.”

“And drop the suit?”

He nodded.

“And apologize sincerely and
comprehensively?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. He sighed. Then he
nodded.

Devi

The week after Thanksgiving was filled with surprises. The first
was the discovery that Josephine was not pressing charges against
Edna and that, further, Edna would soon sign a plea deal for the
other thefts in return for a suspended sentence and community
service.

But the biggest surprise was that Edna
qualified for an income-assistance plan and would continue to live
at Brookside. Something I learned about from Candace.

“I must say, it’s extremely odd. I had no
idea we had a Babbling Brook Perpetuity Fund. But Calvin did say it
was the result of a very recent bequest. Although, why it would go
to Edna, of all people. Why, the woman’s a thief.”

“Why does she need income assistance?”

“Her son can’t afford the fees. He was all
set to move her out when this other stuff happened. And I bet you
haven’t heard the latest on Eddie, have you?” Candace
continued.

“No, I don’t believe so.”

“He resigned this morning.”

“Did he say why?”

Candace cleared her throat and shifted her
gaze away from mine. “Umm, yes. I believe he said he’d behaved
badly toward several people.”

“Big of him.”

I wondered how Candace could be oblivious to
the fact she’d acted badly toward me. Or maybe she wasn’t
completely oblivious. She did unclench her lips and start to speak.
However, all that came out was a nearly inaudible mutter about
having an appointment before she departed abruptly. Since there was
little to be gained from confronting her, I let her go.