Murder Most Owl, page 12
‘She’s busy tomorrow.’
‘The next day, then.’
The dogs remained tense and stood so close to me that they had their bodies pressed against my legs.
‘My aunt won’t be able to do anything with the land until after probate,’ I pointed out, hoping to keep Grimshaw away from the farm.
‘That doesn’t mean we can’t be prepared for the moment she can make a move. I’ll bring some papers with me when I visit the farm. You advise your aunt that making a deal with me is the right choice. The only choice.’
I had to hold my tongue again to keep myself from telling him where to go. Fortunately, he turned away and climbed into a silver car parked in front of mine.
‘What an odious man.’ Avery Hembridge came to stand next to me as Grimshaw’s vehicle squealed away from the curb and shot off along Main Street. ‘Was he bothering you?’
‘He was, but at least he’s gone now.’ For the moment, I didn’t bother to add.
I looked at the business card in my hand. If there’d been a garbage can nearby, I would have tossed it immediately. Since the nearest trash receptacle was half a block away, I tucked the card in the pocket of my jeans to dispose of later.
I turned my full attention on Avery. ‘How are you doing?’
Her blue eyes filled with tears.
‘I’m so sorry!’ I said with dismay as Fancy whined at my side. ‘You’re probably tired of people asking you that question.’
‘No, it’s OK,’ she assured me, blinking away the tears. ‘I appreciate you asking. It’s just … the last few days have been a lot.’
‘I heard about Simon Greenaway. I guess his death complicates matters.’
‘A little.’ She blinked again. No tears fell but her eyes were still shiny. ‘Are you busy? I could use some company.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sure you have things to do.’
‘I’ve got some free time,’ I said. ‘Do you want to go for a walk with me and the dogs?’
‘Would you mind coming up to my stepfather’s place? I have a few groceries in the car and some of them need to go in the freezer. But I’d love it if you could come for a drink.’ She smiled at the spaniels. ‘And the dogs too.’
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I’ll meet you there.’
We set off in our individual cars and I followed Avery up the hill to her stepfather’s mansion. I wondered if it would now be her mansion. If so, would she keep it or sell it? Although I was curious to know the answer, I didn’t want to be rude, so I wasn’t about to bring up the subject.
Avery parked in the driveway, right in front of the mansion, and I pulled in behind her car. I kept the dogs on their leashes, not wanting them to roam freely through the mansion, even though they were likely to stick close to me. I didn’t want to take any chances, since I imagined that such a stately home was likely filled with expensive objects.
Avery set down her two bags of groceries while she unlocked the front door. ‘Come on in, all of you.’
The dogs stayed sitting outside the door until I encouraged them to cross the threshold. We stepped into a spacious, two-story foyer with white marble floors, white walls, and a large crystal chandelier overhead. A curving staircase led up to the second floor and the foyer was furnished with a settee and console table – both of which looked like antiques. A large porcelain vase sat on the table, holding a giant bouquet of lilies and greenery. I knew lilies were poisonous for dogs, so I was glad the table was high enough to keep the flowers away from curious canine noses.
The housekeeper I’d seen on my first day in Twilight Cove walked toward us along a hallway that led deeper into the mansion. Fancy whined as she looked around, but she quieted when I gave her a pat on the head.
‘Abigail,’ Avery said to the housekeeper, ‘I’ve brought a friend, Georgie Johansen. Could you please bring drinks to us in the parlor?’
‘Of course,’ Abigail answered in a deferential tone.
She shot what I thought was a disapproving glance at the dogs, but otherwise ignored them. Flossie and Fancy watched her with their brown eyes but stayed quietly at my side.
‘What would you like to drink?’ Avery asked me. ‘Coffee? Soda?’
‘We also have lemonade,’ Abigail added.
‘Lemonade would be great, thank you,’ I said.
‘I’ll have a coffee. And bring a dish of water for the dogs, please,’ Avery requested.
Abigail hesitated ever so slightly before nodding and heading back down the hallway.
‘Would you like a tour of the house before we have our drinks?’ Avery asked.
The offer surprised me, but I was definitely curious to see more of the mansion. ‘Only if you’d like to give me one,’ I said, not wanting to put her out, despite my curiosity. ‘It’s a beautiful place.’
‘I’ll show you around,’ she said. ‘And bring the dogs. You can let them off their leashes. My stepfather would have wanted them free in the house.’
I unclipped the leashes and the spaniels stayed at my side.
‘Victor loved dogs,’ Avery continued, ‘but after he lost his sweet whippet, Zelda, five years ago, he didn’t get another one. He was having too many health issues by that time.’
As she talked, Avery led me through a door to the left of the foyer and into a large and immaculate sitting room. The large, dual-aspect windows let in plenty of light. Together with the white walls, that made the room bright and airy. A large oil painting of a seascape hung over a marble fireplace and beautiful antiques furnished the room. I spotted two more vases full of fresh flowers and wondered if the mansion was always filled with fresh bouquets, or if these ones had been sympathy gifts.
‘This place was built nearly a hundred years ago,’ Avery explained as she led me through another door into a large dining room with a table that would easily seat a dozen people. ‘Back then Twilight Cove was really just a little fishing hamlet.’
From the dining room, she led me into a state-of-the-art kitchen that was probably twice the size of my Los Angeles apartment. ‘I’m just giving Georgie a quick tour before we have our drinks,’ she told Abigail as the housekeeper passed us on her way to the parlor, carrying a tray with our drinks.
Avery continued showing me the various rooms and luxuries on the main floor, including an indoor swimming pool, a billiards room and a library. To complete the circuit of the ground floor, she led me into a large study.
‘And this was Victor’s home office.’ She ran her hand over the mahogany desk with a sad, wistful smile. ‘He loved working. It was hard on him when he had to sell off some of his businesses when his health began to fail.’
‘What kind of business was he in?’ I asked.
‘A little of this and that, but he started out in real estate and lately he mostly focused on importing high-quality wine and liquor,’ Avery replied. ‘Check this out.’
She walked over to a floor-to-ceiling bookcase holding several thick binders and a few photographs. She pressed a spot on the edge of the bookcase. There was a click, and she tugged at one of the shelves. The entire unit swung away from the wall to reveal a doorway.
‘A secret room?’ I asked with fascination. I’d always loved the idea of houses with hidden passageways and rooms.
‘I would have loved this when I was a kid,’ Avery said. ‘But Victor just bought this place two years ago.’
She passed through the doorway, and I followed. I was a little disappointed to find the small room completely empty.
‘He didn’t use it?’ I asked.
‘He used to store some valuables in here, things that were too big to fit in the safe in his study, but he got rid of those things a while ago.’ Avery led the way back into the study and returned the bookcase to its place against the wall.
My gaze landed on an oil painting of a rugged coastline. It hung on the wall behind the desk.
‘That’s a beautiful painting.’ I moved closer for a better look.
The artist had captured the energy of a stormy day on the Oregon coast.
Avery joined me by the painting. ‘I’m not sure if Victor truly liked the painting or simply kept it there because of this.’
She pulled at the right side of the frame. It turned out it was on hinges, rather than hanging from a picture hook. The painting swung away from the wall to reveal a safe.
‘The safe that you haven’t been able to open?’ I guessed, remembering what she’d said to the receptionist at the lawyer’s office.
She sighed. ‘That’s it.’
A phone rang, and Avery dug the device out of the pocket of her black pants. She checked the screen. ‘I’m so sorry. Please excuse me for a minute. I need to take this call, but I won’t be long.’
‘No problem,’ I assured her.
She hurried out of the study and across the foyer into the parlor.
I wandered over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out toward the ocean. I could see the water sparkling in the distance. The mansion definitely had gorgeous views.
I turned around at the sound of Fancy whining. She sat in the middle of the study, watching as her sister jumped up on the sturdy chair behind the desk. Once up on her perch, Flossie stood up on her hind legs and rested her front paws on the wall below the large oil painting.
‘Flossie, what are you doing?’ I crossed the room toward her, hoping she wasn’t leaving dirty pawprints on the pristine white walls.
She pressed her nose to the edge of the ornate frame and gave it a nudge. It swung away from the wall again.
‘Flossie!’ I whispered.
I’d almost reached her when she touched a paw to the safe’s dial.
I grabbed her collar, but let go when I heard a clicking sound come from the safe.
Fancy gave a soft ‘a-woo’ of encouragement, and Flossie butted the safe with her nose.
To my astonishment, the door opened.
SEVENTEEN
‘What the …’ I stood staring at the safe door, wondering if my eyes could be deceiving me.
Flossie pressed her nose into the crack of an opening and gave the safe door a push so it swung open wider.
‘Flossie!’ I whispered again.
I glanced over my shoulder, worried that Avery might come back, but I could still hear the low murmur of her voice coming from across the foyer.
As if understanding my worries, Fancy trotted across the study and sat down at the door, like she was standing guard.
Flossie was still on her hind legs on the chair, nosing around in the safe.
I grabbed her collar. ‘Flossie, you can’t be doing that!’
I caught a glimpse of papers piled in the safe, along with some bundles of cash and what might have been velvet jewelry boxes.
Flossie grabbed a manila envelope with her teeth and hopped down from the chair. The envelope fell from her mouth, and some of the contents spilled out onto the floor.
Casting another frantic look at the door, I dropped to my knees to gather up the fallen materials. Flossie stood by, watching me.
‘Why on Earth did you do that?’ I asked in a hushed voice.
The dogs had been so well behaved up until now that Flossie’s stunt with the safe and envelope had completely taken me by surprise.
I was about to stuff everything back in the envelope when I paused. The materials included a yellowed newspaper clipping and an old photograph that featured a young, smiling couple dressed in clothes that dated the photo to around the 1970s. I glanced at the headline of the newspaper clipping. It related to a bank robbery that took place in Tennessee in 1974.
Fancy gave a quiet whine. I stuffed everything back in the envelope, thrust it into the safe, closed the door, and turned the dial. I moved the painting back in place and then scooted over to a framed photograph sitting on the bookshelf. It showed a man I presumed was Victor – probably when he was in his fifties or early sixties – with a blonde woman around his age and a teenage Avery, all smiling at the camera, with a backdrop of palm trees and glittering turquoise waters.
My heart jumped when Abigail stepped into the room.
‘Everything all right?’ the housekeeper asked, her gaze traveling over me and then to each of the dogs.
‘Yes, thanks,’ I said, hoping I sounded completely at ease rather than guilty and breathless. ‘I’m just waiting for Avery to finish a phone call.’
Abigail nodded and disappeared down the hall.
I barely had a chance to take in a deep, relieved breath when Avery breezed back into the room.
‘Sorry about that.’ She tucked her phone into her pocket.
‘No need to apologize,’ I said.
She gave me a grateful smile. ‘Shall we have our drinks now?’
The dogs and I followed her across the foyer to the parlor. I took a seat on an antique settee while Avery settled in a wingback chair. I watched the dogs closely, hoping Flossie wouldn’t try to pull any other stunts. To my relief, the spaniels took a drink from the bowl of water Abigail had left on the floor, and then they lay down by my feet.
My mind was spinning, wondering how the heck Flossie had managed to open the safe, but I couldn’t focus on that at the moment.
‘What will you do now that Victor’s lawyer is dead?’ I asked, hoping I wasn’t being too nosy. ‘Will that cause problems with dealing with the estate?’
‘It won’t hold things up for long,’ Avery said as she added a splash of cream to her coffee. ‘Simon had a partner at the law firm. She’s semi-retired and splits her time between Twilight Cove and Carmel-by-the-Sea, but she’s on her way here as we speak. She’ll be able to access Victor’s will and give me the combination to his safe.’
My gaze flickered to the open study door across the foyer. ‘I don’t suppose your stepfather left the safe unlocked?’
‘He was too careful to do something like that.’ Avery took a sip of coffee. ‘Although, I did check, just in case. I even tried a few combinations. Family birthdates, things like that. None of them worked.’
I took a long drink of lemonade to cover my confusion. Either Avery was lying and the safe was unlocked when Flossie opened it, or someone else had unlocked it since Avery last tried to open it. Those seemed like the only rational explanations.
‘Anyway, I expect this place will go on the market soon,’ Avery said before taking another drink of coffee.
‘You won’t keep it?’ I asked, glad she’d brought up the subject.
‘I doubt it’ll be mine. Victor talked to me about his will a while back. He didn’t give me all the details, but he knew that my husband and I have a successful business in Chicago, and he was very focused on philanthropy in his later years, especially since my mother passed away from cancer twelve years ago.’
‘I’m sorry about your mom,’ I said.
‘Thank you. I think her death was part of the reason my stepfather moved here. A new place without all the reminders of what he’d lost.’ She set her cup on the coffee table. ‘Victor told me he would leave me his Chicago condo and my husband would get one of his classic cars. I assume the rest will go to various charities.’
Those charities would likely be very pleased in the near future, once they found out what they’d be getting from Victor’s estate.
Avery’s phone rang again. She checked the screen and sighed. ‘I’m sorry. There are so many arrangements to be made.’
I set down my empty glass and got to my feet. ‘No worries. The dogs and I will head out now.’
Flossie and Fancy jumped to their feet and trotted after me as I made my way out of the mansion. I didn’t see Abigail as we left. I hoped the spaniels hadn’t left too much dog fur behind for her to clean up.
I spent most of the afternoon editing my script. In the early evening, I helped out with the farm chores and then took a quick shower. Afterward, I put on a simple green dress and tamed my short, wavy hair. Silver hoop earrings, a touch of makeup, and a pair of strappy sandals completed my look.
I explained to the dogs that they most likely wouldn’t be allowed in Marlene’s store, so they had to wait at home. They did a good job of making me feel guilty, simply by looking at me with sad brown eyes.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said as I backed out the door. ‘I won’t be long.’
My heart hurt as I walked down the porch steps without them. That wasn’t a good sign. How would I ever be able to say goodbye to them when it came time for me to move back to Los Angeles?
I pushed those thoughts aside. I needed to stay focused on clearing away the cloud of suspicion hanging over Aunt Olivia and me.
I drove over to the carriage house and helped my aunt into the front passenger seat. She was going stir-crazy at home, so when I’d told her I wanted to find out more about Marlene and her dispute with Dorothy, Auntie O had wanted in on the plan. Although she’d previously said that we should leave all investigating to the police, an entire day spent cooped up in the carriage house had made her decide that a bit of observation and a touch of gossip gathering wouldn’t hurt.
All the parking spots in front of Siren Beauty had already been claimed when we arrived on Main Street, so I double-parked and helped Olivia get out of the car. Dolores Sanchez came along the sidewalk, dressed in a purple muumuu this time, and waved when she saw us.
‘I’ll make sure Olivia gets inside all right,’ Dolores assured me.
I thanked her and hurried back to my car before I caused a traffic jam. I managed to find a parking spot around the corner on Ocean Drive and, a couple of minutes later, I joined my aunt and Dolores in the cosmetics store.
Quite a crowd had already gathered for the customer appreciation event. Every product on the shelves was on sale, and a folding table had been set up at one end of the store. It held an array of finger foods and a bowl of what looked like orange punch. The crowd consisted mostly of women, but a couple of men were present as well. Many customers had a paper plate of food or a cup of punch in hand as they wandered around the shop, some showing interest in the various cosmetics and skincare products, while others seemed to be there for the food and socializing. Despite the latter, Marlene had a steady stream of people purchasing items at the sales counter near the back of the store.
