Buried Under Clutter (Tina Tales Mysteries Book 2) Page 9

  Tina pushed the end button, then brought up the picture of the hooded figure. She studied it and said, “What fun. I get to talk to the police again.” She closed the phone and turned to her mother. “Now tell me how you got out of jail.”

  “Brandon got me out on bail. Five hundred thousand dollars.”

  Tina gasped. “You had to put all that up?”

  “Ten percent, and a bail bondsman guaranteed the rest,” Laura said.

  Tina’s mind boggled. “You had fifty thousand dollars in cash lying around?”

  “Not exactly lying around, but available. Yes.”

  “I had no idea,” Tina murmured. Her father had been a dentist, and she knew both her parents’ parents had money. But money was simply never discussed. Tina didn’t even know if her father had life insurance. Her mother didn’t work, so Tina understood that there was enough money to support them while Tina was growing up. She was aware that Uncle Bob got Social Security and a Navy pension, and contributed to the household, but again, she had no idea how much that might be.

  “Someday,” Laura said, “I’ll have to sit down with you and go over all the finances. But not right now.”

  “No, not now. Did the police say why they suspected you?”

  “No, they didn’t tell me. But they had to tell the judge in order to keep me. It really rests on the idea that I attacked Rebecca. Ridiculous, of course. Apparently they’ve seen the will, and I’m in it. They think I wanted more money. The details were sketchy. I guess we’ll know more at the reading of the will. Which, by the way, takes place this afternoon in Quincy at Rebecca’s house. All of us need to be there. It should be very interesting, don’t you think?

  CHAPTER 23

  Tina stared at her mother. “I think interesting is an understatement. You mean I’m in the will? And Uncle Bob?”

  Laura nodded.

  “But why would…” Words failed Tina.

  “No idea,” Laura said. “We’ll just have to go find out.”

  Brandon stood up to leave. The doorbell rang, and the light flashed over the kitchen doorway. Princess nudged Uncle Bob’s knee.

  “I’ll get it.” Tina rushed to the door so the bell wouldn’t ring again. Lisbeth and John stood waiting, and she let them in.

  When Brandon saw them, he said, “I’ll stay for this.”

  Tina felt a rush of gratitude for rock-solid Brandon. She could always depend on him. But she wished Hank was here. Where was old Hank, anyway?

  Everyone sat in the living room again. This is getting old, Tina thought. When she realized how tense she was, she made herself relax as much as she could. Deep breaths. Deep breaths.

  Laura was the first to speak. “I’m surprised to see you here so quickly, Detectives.”

  John looked down his nose at her. Lisbeth kept her expression neutral and said, “This is a murder investigation, Mrs. Shaw. Top priority.” She turned to Tina. “What happened last night?”

  Tina explained, her heart racing almost as fast as it had the night before. When she came to the part where the person had run away, she thought again he probably wasn’t the murderer. Or she’d be dead right now. She started to shake and couldn’t stop. With a trembling hand, she handed Lisbeth the phone, glad the picture was already on the screen because she didn’t think she could have punched the buttons to get to it again.

  Laura made a move as if to come to her, but stayed seated. Uncle Bob frowned with concern, and even Brandon looked uncomfortable. “Delayed reaction,” Laura said. “Let me get you some hot cocoa.” By this time, Tina was shaking.

  Lisbeth and John studied the picture, ignoring her discomfort. Lisbeth handed her the phone again. “Can you send that to me? You have my card? My email address is on there.”

  “Sure.” Tina closed the phone and set it on the coffee table. She leaned back in the chair, telling herself to calm down. Did they believe her? She couldn’t tell.

  “Why didn’t you call us right away?” John asked.

  “I didn’t think you’d get there in time. Then while I was waiting, I knew if you came with sirens blaring the person would run away without my getting a good look at him.”

  “Well, that plan didn’t work out, now did it?” John scowled at her. “I think you made the whole thing up. You wanted to get your mother released from jail, and you made this clumsy attempt to bump us off track and waste our time.”

  “That’s not true!” Tina’s palm itched to smack him. “I would never lie to the police.”

  Laura came into the room carrying a tray loaded down with cups and saucers, a teapot, and some cookies. She almost upended it into John’s lap. She caught it in time and placed it on the coffee table. John scooted back in his chair, and stopped himself just before toppling over backward.

  “My daughter doesn’t lie. You think she scratched her own forehead and made one of us pose for that picture?” Laura stood, glaring at John, hands on her hips.

  Tina wondered if the tray had landed on John they would have arrested her mother for assaulting a police officer. She held back a giggle and caught Uncle Bob’s eye. She had to look away because she could tell he was also trying not to laugh.

  Laura handed Tina a cup of cocoa and told everyone else to help themselves. When John reached for a cup, Laura glowered at him again, and he pulled his hand back.

  Tina took a quick sip of her cocoa so she wouldn’t laugh, not daring to look at Uncle Bob. She hid her surprise when she tasted it. Her mother had laced it with brandy. Tina grinned at her mother, and Laura gave her a weak smile in return.

  After Laura sat down, Lisbeth asked Tina a few more questions. Finally the police were gone. “You need to lie down for a while,” Laura said. “I’ll wake you up in time for the trip to Quincy.”

  Tina nodded and took the last sip of her cocoa. Still shaky, she headed upstairs and collapsed onto her bed. She kicked off her shoes and turned to her side. Exhausted, but not sleepy, she couldn’t get comfortable.

  She’d been staring at the wall for about fifteen minutes when the door opened, and her mother peeked in. “You’re awake. You have a visitor. I figured you’d probably want to talk to him.”

  Laura stepped aside, and Hank strode into the room.

  Happiness washed over her, and she sat up on the bed, smoothing down her hair. The door closed softly behind him, and Hank walked over to her. He cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed the scratch on her forehead. Everything tingled, a wonderful relief from the shivers.

  He sat down next to her, and she snuggled into his arms. All the tension drained out of her. She’d never felt this way with anyone before, and she didn’t want to let him go.

  He stroked her hair and finally murmured, “You okay?”

  “I am now.” She pulled away a little and looked up at him. “Where have you been?”

  He grinned at her. “Here and there.”

  “Not here. Why didn’t you come in the window?”

  “I figured Laura would be checking on you and might be a bit perturbed to find me here. I’m not sure she knows about the trellis, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.”

  “I’m surprised she let you visit me in my boudoir.”

  Hank laughed and hugged her tighter. “The Shaw women are just full of surprises. Lisbeth filled me in on what happened to you, so I won’t ask you to go through it all again.”

  “You believe me, right? You don’t think I made it up to help my mother?”

  He laughed again. “I don’t think you’re that devious. Or are you?” He took her shoulders and gently pushed her away so he could look into her eyes. “How could you have staged that picture so fast? Yes, I believe you. Deep down, I think Lisbeth does, too. The only problem is, if it was the murderer, he, or she, left you alive.”

  Tina shivered again, and couldn’t stop.

  “Sorry.” Hank pulled her tightly against himself again, and slowly the shivers disappeared.

  When she could come up for air, she said, “All I kno
w is that there must be something in the house next door worth killing for.”

  “I think you’re right. And if we can find it before the killer does, we might just catch the devil.”

  “We? You’re going to help?”

  “I didn’t know I was until right now. But yes, we need to get everyone we know to help. Everyone we know who didn’t know Olivia Blackwell, that is.”

  “But almost all of us did.”

  “You’d be surprised. Many of the people who thought they knew her only knew about her. For example, I think I saw the woman twice in my whole life and never spoke to her. Probably the same could be said for Brandon and Leslie, for many of the people up and down this street. Off-duty cops might be interested enough to help. Did you see the rest of the house? How long do you think it would take say, one person in each room to go through everything, if we could get that many?”

  Tina counted the rooms in her head. “I didn’t see the attic or the cellar. Six bedrooms and sitting room upstairs plus three bathrooms, and seven rooms downstairs and a powder room and butler’s pantry. Maybe two days for each room, but maybe more for some. Kitchen and office in particular.”

  “I’d guess she hid anything important in the main part of the house so she could get to it, so we’ll leave attic and basement for now. If we got fourteen people, they could each do a room. And if someone finished before the others, by that time there would probably be enough space for two people to work in the worst rooms.”

  “It could work.” Tina gave Hank a quick kiss on his cheek. “You’re wonderful to offer to help.”

  “Laura’s like a second mother to me. I can no more believe she murdered Olivia Blackwell than that she can take wing and fly.”

  “Speaking of mothers, how’s Mitzi?”

  “She’s doing well. Go visit her when this is all over. She loves seeing you.”

  A jolt of guilt went through Tina. She’d skipped going last week, and this one was slipping away. She’d vowed to herself to visit every week after what she found out after Crystal was murdered. “I love seeing her, too. I’ll go as soon as I can.”

  “I know you will. Now, you’d better get ready for the trip to Quincy. I’m driving everyone.”

  “In your Jaguar? I doubt we’ll all fit.” Tina smiled.

  “No. I rented an SUV. I like it so much, I might buy one for just such occasions.”

  Tina couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not. You never knew with old Hank.

  CHAPTER 24

  After a comfortable one-hour ride in the black SUV, the four of them arrived in the Quincy town center, where a lighthouse sculpture of the founder, Daniel Shed, stood in a small plot. They pulled up to the Tinsdale’s home on Shed Street a few minutes before the appointed time. Hank climbed down to open the door for Laura and Tina, and Uncle Bob helped Princess out of the back, where she had lounged on the bench seat as befitted royalty.

  “I’ll wait in the car,” Hank said.

  “Why?” Tina was disappointed. She’d expected him to be beside her.

  “I wasn’t invited, and I’m not part of this.”

  He was right, she realized. She nodded and turned toward the gray, fish-shingle-sided Cape Cod house on a medium-sized lot with only a few trees and shrubs. Three cars were parked in the driveway, and another car in front on the street.

  “This is going to be awkward,” Laura said. “I don’t even know if Rebecca will talk to me or not.”

  Uncle Bob took her arm. “Of course she will. You’re friends. Have been for a long time.”

  Laura sighed. “When money is involved, friendships can be broken. Suddenly, I don’t want to go into that house.”

  “No one will bite you,” Uncle Bob said. “I won’t let them.”

  Laura laughed softly. “My hero. Okay.” She straightened her back. “Let’s do it.”

  Curiosity and anxiousness warred with each other inside of Tina as she followed her mother and uncle up the curving front walk. The door opened as they arrived. Jenny greeted them and motioned them inside.

  The living room, decorated in striped and plaid chintz with Early American tables and a hutch for a TV set, was barely large enough to hold everyone. Tina recognized Colin and Tabitha. Jenny started with Tabitha and her husband, Ezio, and introduced everyone else: Colin’s father, Harold; the lawyer, Mr. Rafferty; and Jenny’s mother, Rebecca. Tina looked at her longer than the others. Rather plump, with her arm in a sling, her dull blonde hair hung straight down. Tina realized she probably couldn’t fix it the way she usually would because of her injured arm. She had blue eyes, a large nose, and tiny hands and feet.

  Laura walked over to talk to Rebecca. “How are you?”

  Rebecca wouldn’t look at her. “All right,” she mumbled.

  “You don’t think I did this to you, do you?”

  “Of course not.” But her voice was unsure.

  “Well, I didn’t. First, I had no reason to. Second, I’d never even think of doing such a thing. I thought you knew me better than that.” Laura turned and headed toward the couch. She sat down. Tina sat next to her, Uncle Bob at the other end, Princess at his feet.

  No one said a word. “Is that the proverbial pin dropping I hear?” Uncle Bob asked. “Probably not. Must be my tinnitus.”

  Tina saw Colin and Jenny smile. Everyone else sat stone-faced. Like the proverbial statues, Tina thought. She noticed that Tabitha was the most flamboyantly dressed in a bird-patterned silk blouse and a green miniskirt. Red platforms. Looks like a Christmas tree, Tina thought. She noticed a large, unusual metal bracelet with chunks of stones embedded in it. She was sure she’d seen that bracelet at an exclusive Thames Street shop in Newport. Come to think of it, she’d seen the blouse in the same shop. Tabitha obviously liked expensive goods.

  In contrast, Jenny was dressed in a conservative blouse and calf-length skirt and flats. Understated gold locket at her throat, delicate gold bracelet and watch on her wrists completed her outfit.

  Mr. Rafferty stood by the brick fireplace and cleared his throat. “Thank you all for coming. I shall now read the last will and testament of Ms. Olivia Blackwell.” He pulled a blue-covered document out of his breast pocket and began to read. Tina wondered if Jenny had given him the other one.

  After naming the date, two weeks before Olivia’s death, and the usual legal stuff, he got down to a list of the beneficiaries. Her nephew, Colin and two nieces, Jenny and Tabitha, were each bequeathed two million dollars, a million more each than in the will Tina found. Her brother Harold got five million, and Evelyn Simpson and Eddie Smith got one sum of one million “to thank them for their kindness.” Everyone gasped and exchanged glances when the lawyer announced that.

  “Why aren’t they here?” Jenny asked.

  Mr. Rafferty took off his reading glasses and looked at her. “They were notified, but there’s no requirement that beneficiaries show up for the reading, so they decided not to. May I continue now?”

  Everyone nodded. Mr. Rafferty put his glasses back on and said, “To my neighbor, Laura Shaw, I bequeath one million dollars, and to my other neighbor, Robert O’Neil, one million dollars to thank them for being good neighbors.”

  Laura blanched and grasped at her throat. Uncle Bob blinked rapidly, looking startled and confused, probably not sure he’d heard right.

  The lawyer continued. “To Tina Shaw, I bequeath five million dollars with the proviso that she be in charge of organizing and distributing all my possessions inside my house and garage, with particular attention to my office and the music room.”

  When Tina realized her mouth had fallen open, she quickly closed it and returned the stares of everyone else in the room. Light-headed, she forced herself to take some deep breaths.

  Mr. Rafferty removed his glasses again and looked at Tina a few moments before continuing. No one said a word.

  “To Mrs. McEllen, another good neighbor, I bequeath five hundred thousand dollars, and the rest of my estate I leave in full to my dear sister, Reb
ecca Tinsdale.”

  Tina’s thoughts were a jumble as everyone began to talk at once. It was a wonder the police hadn’t arrested her for Mrs. Blackwell’s murder, since she inherited more than most of the rest of them, except Rebecca. Rebecca, who never left the house and had been attacked. But there was Jenny, who would benefit both from her own inheritance and her mother’s. And she found the body. But she couldn’t have attacked her own mother because she had been with Tina when that happened.

  Her eye caught the uncle. Harold. Today he was five million dollars richer. She began to wonder if any of these people were in financial trouble. What did she know about them? Nothing, except what she’d been told and briefly observed.

  Jenny disappeared for a few minutes, then came back with a large tray of food and set it down on the coffee table. She left again and brought another tray with cups of coffee, cream, sugar, even little yellow packets of artificial sweeteners. Tina shivered. Neither hungry nor thirsty, she turned to Uncle Bob. “How’re you doing?”

  “Okay. Did he really say I got one million dollars?”

  “That’s right.”

  “That’s crazy.” Uncle Bob’s voice had risen, and everyone looked at him. “Why would she do that?”

  “Hush,” Laura said. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  Uncle Bob looked around and seemed to realize everyone was staring at him. He stood up, agitated. “I don’t want that woman’s money.” It looked as if he’d like to pace, but the room was too small and crowded. Princess stood watching him, her tail moving slightly, as if she was unsure whether to wag it or not. “I’ll wait in the car.” Uncle Bob and Princess made their way out of the room, people moving aside to give them space.

  Laura stood up and followed him without saying goodbye to anyone. Tina sat still. Should she follow them or not? After a few moments, she decided to stay. Everyone stared at her awhile, then turned to each other and began to chatter.