Buried Under Clutter (Tina Tales Mysteries Book 2) Read online

  Tina took a deep breath and tried to catch snatches of conversation. Jenny leaned down to talk to her mother sitting in a rocker. Tabitha and Ezio had their heads together, as did Uncle Harold and Colin. After a few minutes, Tabitha sat down next to Tina. “Your uncle seemed very upset. An unusual reaction to inheriting a million dollars, don’t you think?”

  Tina shrugged. It appeared that Olivia Blackwell had unsettled her uncle many years ago, and this was the final straw. “You realize your aunt made everyone in her will murder suspects?”

  Tabitha’s eyes widened. She glanced around. “Except Aunt Rebecca. She never leaves home.”

  Tina watched Rebecca take an egg salad quarter sandwich from the tray and wondered if that were true. Who really knew if Rebecca Tinsdale ever left her house or not?

  CHAPTER 25

  Mr. Rafferty finished stuffing papers into his briefcase and walked around shaking everyone’s hands. After he left, silence once again fell.

  Rebecca’s pale eyes met Tina’s. “How long do you think it will take to clear out Olivia’s house? I understand it’s quite horrible.” She shuddered.

  “I can’t really say. It depends on how much help I can get.”

  “We can all help,” Colin said.

  Tina shook her head. “No one who inherits can help. No one the police suspect.”

  “Except you.” Colin cocked his head at her. “You get more than even us cousins.”

  Tina felt her face growing hot. “I had no idea until today. Did you?”

  His eyes narrowed. “No, of course not. But you lived right next door. She could have told you.”

  “Colin,” Rebecca said softly. “Technically, she could have told any of us. But you know she didn’t. Olivia liked her little secrets.”

  “Not so little this time.” Colin looked and sounded sullen.

  “I’d worry more about those Simpsons than Tina.”

  Several people nodded. “Who are they, anyway?” Tabitha asked.

  From all the puzzled looks, Tina realized no one in the room knew except her. “They sold cleaning products door to door.”

  “How do you know that?” Harold asked. “Apparently you talked to Olivia.”

  “No. No, I didn’t. Evelyn Simpson also came to our house and tried to sell my mother some stuff. I guess they influenced Mrs. Blackwell somehow when they visited her.”

  “You mean they scammed her.”

  “Likely.”

  “If they did, there’s probably nothing we can do about it.” Uncle Harold set his coffee cup down so hard, Tina was surprised it didn’t break.

  Tina stood up. “Hopefully the police will find out who did it, and we can all relax. In the meantime, I’ll work on the house, Mrs. Tinsdale, and I’ll let you know, every day, if you wish, how it’s going.”

  Rebecca got up clumsily and walked with Tina to the door, Jenny behind them. “I would appreciate knowing how it’s going,” Rebecca said. “You have my phone number?”

  “I’m sure my mother does.”

  Rebecca frowned. “Yes. I look forward to hearing from you.”

  Tina debated shaking her hand, decided against it, and left the house. Strange people. When Hank saw her coming, he jumped out of the SUV and opened the door for her. She smiled at him. “You’re just doing that because I’m now a rich woman.”

  “Caught! Although Mrs. Tinsdale is even richer, I hear. Maybe I should go see if she needs any doors opened.”

  Tina laughed. Some of the tension left her as Hank closed the door and climbed into the driver’s seat. But then it hit her, and she gasped.

  “What’s wrong?” Laura, in the back seat, asked.

  “I… I just realized… what on earth am I going to do with five million dollars?”

  Hank put the gear in drive and started off. “You’ll think of something.”

  “What did she say?” Uncle Bob asked. After Laura told him, he said. “What will any of us do with the money? We don’t need it. And you realize that getting it has made all of us suspects in Olivia’s death.”

  “Well,” Laura said drily, “I can use it to pay in full for my bail.”

  “What a farrago,” Uncle Bob said. His tone sounded absent-minded, as if he didn’t even realize what he said.

  “I guess that means a mess?” Hank asked.

  “It means a mishmash,” Tina said.

  “He’s used it before?” Hank gave her a sideways look.

  “A few times.” She laughed. She hoped that Uncle Bob would be around for a long time to keep her spirits up.

  CHAPTER 26

  When they arrived back in Newport, John and Lisbeth were sitting outside the house in an unmarked car. John looked sour, Lisbeth her usual stoic self as they climbed out of their vehicle and stood on the front walk to meet them. “What now?” Uncle Bob muttered. “All this brouhaha is getting tiresome.”

  Lisbeth and John ignored the comment and walked up to the front door. When everyone got out of the SUV, Uncle Bob waited for Princess. After all the doors were closed, Tina took her uncle’s hand. “Why don’t you just go to your room? Mom and I can deal with them. Especially if Hank stays.” She knew how tired her uncle got from straining to hear everything. His face looked drawn, his shoulders slumped. She worried about him.

  “I think I will. Unless they want to talk to me, too.”

  “They’re not going to take me back to jail?” Laura asked Hank.

  Tina whirled around to look at her mother. She sounded worse than Uncle Bob. He tugged on her hand, and she realized he hadn’t heard what Laura said. “She’s wondering if they’re going to take her back to jail.”

  “Oh.” Uncle Bob’s eyes widened. They all looked at Hank.

  “I doubt it. Let’s go find out what they do want.” He took Laura’s arm, and they all went up the front walk, where John stood tapping his foot.

  With a shaky hand, Laura used her key to open the front door. Then she turned to the police officers. “What do you want this time?”

  Lisbeth looked pained. “We need to talk to your daughter.”

  Laura rolled her eyes. Tina stiffened and glanced at Uncle Bob. He looked shocked, and she knew he’d understood Lisbeth.

  Laura pushed the door open wide. “Let’s get this over with.” She stomped to the living room and sat down in her favorite chair. Uncle Bob sat in his, Princess at his feet.

  After everyone else was settled, they all looked at Lisbeth. “We know about the inheritances, have known for a few days. We waited until now to talk to Tina.” She gave Tina a penetrating glance. “The provision that you deal with the contents of the house is awkward since Ms. Blackwell was murdered, and you’re a beneficiary.”

  John wiggled in his chair. “You had motive and opportunity to…”

  “John.” Hank’s voice was low and menacing.

  John’s eyes widened, and he blanched. Quickly, he looked down at his notebook. “Sorry.”

  Lisbeth’s expression showed no emotion. “We have decided the best thing to do is to have an officer stay with you while you work.”

  Please not John, Tina thought.

  Lisbeth seemed to read her mind, and she smiled. “We’ve assigned Officer McPherson. He is available as soon as you decide to start. The sooner, the better, of course.”

  “Mickey McPherson?” Laura asked.

  “Yes. I assume you know him since he lives across the street.”

  “Uncle Bob and I do. I’m not sure Tina has ever met him.”

  “He lives with Ryan,” Uncle Bob told Tina. “You met Ryan the other day.”

  “The firefighter.”

  “Yes,” Lisbeth said. “They own the house together. Will you have any problem with this arrangement?”

  “No. Of course not. Why would I? Is he just going to watch me, or will he actually help?”

  “That’s up to him. How long do you expect this to take?”

  “I have no idea. Hank suggested we get a team together.” At Lisbeth’s skeptical look, Ti
na quickly continued. “Of people who didn’t know Mrs. Blackwell, and of course didn’t inherit from her. Perhaps off-duty officers and people we know. They would be paid from the estate.” Her head began to whirl. What had she gotten herself into with this new profession?

  John shook his head, but Lisbeth looked thoughtful. “That would speed the process considerably. How many people would you need? Do you know?”

  “One to a room because there’s not enough space for two, except in the office and music room. Convenient, since that’s where Mrs. Blackwell, in the will, said for me to pay particular attention. I think twelve or fourteen should be enough.”

  “All right.” Lisbeth stood up. “We’ll ask around at the station. Would you be able to start soon? Even if we don’t have enough people right away, the sooner, the better.”

  “Whenever you can get enough people together,” Tina said. Get it over with. She had to admit, though, she was curious about what she might discover.

  “I expect you can find your way out,” Laura said. She looked too weary to get up.

  Tina decided to follow the officers to the front door. Need to be sure they didn’t pinch anything on the way. She almost laughed out loud at the ridiculous thought. Was she getting hysterical?

  After she saw them out, she turned to find Hank behind her. He opened his arms, and she fell into them. They stayed that way until they heard Uncle Bob clear his throat. When Tina looked at him, he was grinning. No one said a word as her uncle, Princess, and Laura went up the stairs to their bedrooms.

  “Caught.” Hank laughed and pulled away from her gently. “I have to go. I’ll be here as soon as Lisbeth gets everything organized.”

  “You really meant it.”

  “Of course I did.”

  “You’ll get dirty.”

  He laughed again. “Been dirty before.”

  “Not like this. But I’m glad you’ll be there. What room do you want to work in?”

  “The bedroom.”

  Tina stared at him. “You mean the one where Olivia was murdered.”

  Hank nodded.

  “Of course,” Tina said and hugged him.

  CHAPTER 27

  When Hank and Tina stepped out of the house the first day of the massive clean-up, they both took in deep breaths of the cold, crisp air. A few reporters lined the sidewalk and yelled out questions.

  “Ms. Shaw. How’s it feel to be a multimillionaire?”

  “What have the police told you about the murder?”

  “Ms. Shaw, how long’s it gonna take to clean out the house?”

  She shrugged and didn’t try to answer them. Hank took her elbow. “Don’t say anything, no matter how outrageous their questions get.”

  Tina tried to block out the shouts. Then she saw a man come out of Ryan’s house across the street. She studied him as he approached. Dressed like Hank in jeans, a sweatshirt with the University of Rhode Island emblem on it—Hank’s said Brown University—and brown chukka boots, he looked ready to work. He had curly reddish-orange hair, and as he got closer, she saw his sparkling blue eyes and cheeky grin. Newport Irish to the core, and proud of it. She couldn’t help smiling up at him as he held out his hand to shake hers.

  “You must be Tina. I’m Mickey. Pleased to meet you at last. I’m surprised we haven’t met before now.”

  “Me, too.” Tina shook his warm hand and realized he was probably several years younger than she.

  “You’ve been back home how long?” he asked.

  “About five months.” They walked toward the garage. “You ready for this?”

  “I think so. How bad is it?”

  “Couldn’t be much worse.” Tina unlocked the one-car garage and walked past her mother’s white Buick to the rear where she stored her supplies. She handed the men as many of the flat boxes as they could handle while she grabbed up packages of trash bags, blue latex gloves, and facemasks.

  Their feet crunched the dry grass as they walked across the lawn to Olivia’s house. “First thing we do is open as many windows as we can.” Tina said. “I’m glad it’s not raining.”

  Several cars drove up, doors slammed, and men and a few women came up to Olivia’s front porch, where Tina stood on the third step, facing them, Hank and Mickey on either side of her. She’d planned a little speech. “Do you know if everyone’s here?” she asked Hank.

  “Looks like it. Anyone missing?” he asked the crowd.

  Everyone glanced around and shrugged while Hank counted heads. He nodded at Tina.

  Tina introduced herself and said, “Thank you all so much for coming. I have to warn you, it’s not going to fun or pleasant. Some of you might find it rather fascinating, though. I know I do.” A few people laughed softly. “Consider it a treasure hunt. I’m going to explain the best way to get this done. First, everyone wear gloves. Anyone allergic to latex?” No one answered. “Good. The gloves are not optional, for two reasons. One is your own safety in case of germs and other potentially bad stuff. The other is fingerprints, of course. The masks are optional. If you prefer to work unmasked, that’s fine. But they are available if you want one. Everyone gets a couple of trash bags. Anything that’s obviously junk goes into them, and when full, bring them to the lawn in front of the porch. After school hours, a boy will collect them and put them into the dumpster.”

  Everyone looked at the dumpster. “You think we’ll fill that thing up?” someone asked.

  Tina nodded. “I’m actually afraid we might have to get another one.” After everyone stopped murmuring, she continued. “Each room will need some assembled boxes. You put everything that’s in good shape in them. If you have room, leave the boxes in your room, and the boy will take them to the porch, where family members will sift through them for what they want to keep and what they think should be sold. I have hand sanitizer and bottled water in my backpack for anyone who forgot to bring some. If you have any questions, I’ll either be in the office or the music room. Remember, this is a voluntary job. If it gets too much for you, don’t be embarrassed to leave. Be careful pulling down boxes so nothing can fall on you. Ask for help if you need it. I hope everyone finds it interesting enough to be able to forget about the dirt and smell. First thing we’ll do is open all the windows we can. Any questions?”

  A young woman raised her hand. “Are you going to assign rooms? And will we be working alone or with someone else?”

  “There’s not enough space for more than one person at a time to work in the rooms at present. For now, one person to a room, except for Officer McPherson and me—you probably know why that is, and fortunately, the two rooms I’m going to do have more clear space than the rest—the office and music room. I’m going to loosely assign rooms, so if anyone wants to switch with someone else, that’s fine. Those who finish their rooms before the whole job is done can probably find a room that has enough space by that time for two people to work in. Feel free to work wherever you want where there’s enough room, except the office and music rooms. Any more questions?”

  “Yeah,” one of the men who looked to be the oldest in the group said. “When’s lunch?”

  Everyone laughed. “Whenever you’re hungry,” Tina said. “I recommend coming outside to eat. Now, let’s get started.” She pointed at three of the women. “If you’ll come up, I think it would be good for one of you to work in the living room, another in the front tower room, and the third in the dining room. One of you men want to tackle the kitchen? It’s one of the toughest rooms.”

  “I will.”

  Tina was pleased to see it was the older guy. She figured he had more experience in kitchens than the younger ones did. “Thank you. What’s your name?”

  “Barry Summers. At your service, ma’am.”

  “Barry, the kitchen’s at the back of the house. Good luck. Any more questions?”

  When no one said anything, Tina grabbed the box of face masks and handed them to Hank. She gave the box of gloves to Barry. “If you’ll distribute these that would be good.
” It took only a few minutes to do that, and they came back up onto the step to stand next to her. “I’ll leave these boxes on a table here on the porch in case anyone needs replacements.” Then she turned to go inside. “Everyone grab a box and two trash bags, and let’s get started.”

  Inside, she pointed out the rooms for the women and Barry while the rest of the men trooped upstairs to divide up the bedrooms. Hank led the way so he could stake out Olivia’s room. There were gasps of surprise and exclamations about the chaos that greeted them. Mickey stayed with Tina. She wondered if that would become uncomfortable. For both of them.

  When she opened the door to the office, she gasped. Boxes blocked the way, piled up above her head. There was no way to enter without taking them down and putting them somewhere else. She glanced backward and saw an empty spot against the opposite wall where they must have been originally.

  “I assume these boxes weren’t blocking the door when you were here last time?”

  “No.” Still in shock, Tina couldn’t think of an explanation.

  “Probably that intruder you saw did it.”

  So he knew about the intruder. “Of course. You’re right. But why?”

  The stood staring at the boxes a few moments.

  “To slow you down, I’d guess. I suggest we just move them back where they probably came from.” Mickey gestured toward the opposite hall wall.

  Tina sighed. “Good idea.”

  It didn’t take them that long, but still Tina felt annoyed. When they could finally enter the office, Tina looked around. Nothing seemed disturbed, but how could anyone tell?

  “This is quite a place.” Mickey rubbed his gloved hand over the front edge of the marble fireplace mantel. “It must be pretty spectacular when all cleaned up.”

  “Yes. I look forward to seeing it all brought back to its original state. Or as close as anyone can. I expect Mrs. Tinsdale will have to do that in order to get it sold.”

  “She’s the sister who inherited most of the estate?”