Tracy Kiely: Murder Most Persuasive

“You are not the police,” I said through clenched teeth.

Kit gave a shrill laugh. “Oh, I get it. You think you’re the only one in this family who can ask questions about a murder?”

I took a deep breath. “No, Kit. That’s not what I’m saying. The police don’t know Reggie, but we do! Can you really see her not telling Uncle Marty if she knew Michael had embezzled the money?”

Kit shrugged. “I’m not saying she knew. All I’m saying is that love can do funny things to people sometimes.”

Mercifully, her cell phone rang just then, putting an end to the conversation, at least for now.

“Paul?” Kit said into the receiver. “What’s the problem? Well, I can’t right now. I’m busy.” Holding one finger up to us as a signal to wait, she shifted her body away from us. “Paul, it’s not that hard. Just get him some of his trains, that’ll settle him down. What? They’re downstairs in the bin.” Pause. “No, the other bin. I don’t know! Get him Thomas, Gordon, and Percy. No, Gordon is the long blue one; Henry is the green one. No, that’s James. For goodness’ sake, Paul, it’s not that difficult!” Long pause. “All right. Fine. Uh-huh. Okay. I’ll be there soon. Bye.” With an irritated click, she snapped the cell phone shut. Turning back to us, she said, “I have to go. Pauly’s not feeling well. Ann, I’m really sorry about all of this. Please let me know what I can do. I mean it.”

“Thanks, Kit, but I’ll be fine.”

“Well, the least I can do is bring over some dinners for you. You’ve got enough to worry about without adding cooking into the mix.” With a smile she added, “No pun intended.”

I suddenly felt like a jerk. Kit meant well, she really did. She was just one of those annoying souls who always manage to put a foot in it.

Ann nodded. “That would be great, Kit. Thanks. I really appreciate your coming over tonight. It’s nice to know you guys are here for me when I need you.”

“Of course we are!” replied Kit. “You should know that by now! That’s what family is for!” Giving Ann a big hug, she turned to me. “Are you ready?”

With a fair amount of dread, I said, “Oh, uh, actually, I’m going to stay here tonight. I brought a change of clothes. I’ll leave for work from here in the morning. I thought I’d help Ann tonight.”

Kit looked like I’d slapped her, and for a second I saw a hurt little girl in front of me. I felt horrible. Kit had always had a hard time making friends. Kit didn’t try to help people because they needed her help. Kit tried to help people so she could feel better about herself. When her offers of help were refused—even politely refused—Kit took it as a personal affront.

“Kit…” I began.

“Nope, it’s fine. I’ll just see you tomorrow,” she said with artificial briskness, but I heard the catch in her voice. My heart sank.

“Kit—”

She cut me off. “I’ll be sure to bring over some meals tomorrow, Ann,” she said. “Lord knows, if you let Elizabeth do the cooking, all you’ll end up eating is spaghetti!” Still laughing at her little joke, she left.

I sighed. Same old Kit.

Ann turned to me. “Would you like some tea?”

“If by ‘tea’ you mean Chardonnay, then yes,” I said, following her to the kitchen. Scarlett scampered along beside me. Located in the back of the house, the kitchen was a large modern room with stainless-steel appliances, white cabinets, and white marble countertops. During the day, the back windows provided a view of the landscaped backyard and pool below.

I sat on one of the yellow cushioned stools at the counter, while Ann pulled out a chilled bottle from the refrigerator. Scarlett settled at my feet.

“How are you really ?” I asked.

“About how you’d expect,” she replied, getting down two glasses from the cabinet. “You know what my feelings about Michael were, but to know that he’s dead, and not only dead but dead and buried under the pool we all swam in…” She broke off with a low moan of disgust and covered her mouth with her hand.

“You can’t think about it like that,” I said briskly, getting up and easing her into my chair. “You’ll only make yourself sick. None of you knew that then.”

Her head in her hands, she said, “Someone knew.”

Fitting the corkscrew over the neck of the bottle, I pushed down the lever and pulled out the cork. Pouring us each a glass, I slid Ann’s across the counter to her.

Cradling the glass in her hands, her head low, she said, “Thanks, Elizabeth. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s a fair comment. You’re right. Someone did know.”

Ann raised her head, her gaze direct. “I’m scared. Michael wasn’t a nice man. He hurt a lot of people. He hurt people in my family.”

I nodded. I didn’t say what we were both thinking, that Michael had also hurt Ann. As I remembered the detail, my hands gripped my glass with unnecessary strength. Out of precaution, I put it down.

“Ann?” I asked. “When did the pool go in?”

“Eight years ago last July. Two months before what would have been Michael and Reggie’s wedding. They were going to have the reception at the house and Reggie wanted a pool. Not to swim in, of course. She just wanted to float candles and flowers in the water. She thought it would look pretty.”

“She always was a mini-Martha, wasn’t she?” I said with a laugh.

Ann nodded in agreement. “That she was. And of course, Dad denied her nothing. He absolutely doted on her. She was so much like him.” She took a sip of wine. “Anyway, the pool went in right around the time that Reggie broke it off with Michael. Right around the time he disappeared.” She paused. “Obviously.”

“That was right after your dad’s Fourth of July party, right?”

Ann closed her eyes and nodded. “Yup, right after that horrible night.”

I took a sip of my wine, unsure if I should continue. “Ann?” She looked up. I took a deep breath. “Did you ever tell anybody what happened at the party?”

Ann gave a rueful twist of her mouth. “You mean, did I ever tell anybody that Michael tried to rape me?”

I nodded.

“No.” She stared at the glass in her hands. “No. I never did. You’re the only one who knows. I don’t know why I never said anything.” She put the glass down and twisted a lock of hair around her finger and continued. “Maybe it was because right after that, Reggie said she’d ended things with him. God, I was so relieved when she told me that. I honestly don’t know if she would have believed me if I had told her. Then Dad discovered that the money was gone and that Michael took it.”

“And then Michael was gone,” I added.

She nodded. “And then Michael was gone. Except now it appears that he wasn’t. Not in the way we all thought, anyway.” Propping her elbows on the counter, she rested her head in her hands. “What are the police going to think when they hear all this?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

Neither of us said anything else, drinking our wine in silence. After a few minutes, however, I said, “Ann?”

“Hmmm?”

“If Michael’s dead, what happened to the money?”

Ann’s brows knit together. “I don’t know. I imagine it’s still sitting in whatever bank he dumped it. Why? Do you think we could get it back?”

“I don’t know what your options are legally if you ever find it. I guess what I really meant was, could Michael have had an accomplice? Someone from the company, maybe?”