Анна Керн - Deadly Diamond

He took a sip of coffee, “I thought it a happy coincidence when I found out that Althea also lived in Beachside, thinking we could take our time to get to know one another as mother and son. However, she ignored the correspondence from the investigation firm that I’d hired to find her, and she refused to see me when I tried contacting her personally. On an impulse, I took a chance, believing that if I just showed up in person it would strike a motherly cord or something, so I went to see her and brought her a delicate necklace of amber beads. She was horrified to see me and when she opened the box that I forced on her, she immediately tried to pull the necklace apart, throwing it hard against the stairwell while she screamed at me to get out. I quickly picked up the necklace, put it back in the box and left. I was devastated. Later, I learned she was dead.”

I wasn’t sure I believed the man and everything he’d said––Althea screaming and throwing things against the wall didn’t fit the character of the woman I knew. However, it was true that Althea hadn’t told the whole truth about herself, had she?

“Have you tried to get in touch with your cousin, Carole Berth?” Alyx asked him.

He nodded, leaned back, and draped his arm across the back of the couch, invading Misty’s space. She didn’t budge, and he removed his arm.

“She refused to see me and told me not to call her again.”

“Did you know that Althea was a wealthy woman?”

“Yes, I did,” he sighed. “That gives me a solid motive, doesn’t it? Except, I have plenty of my own money and I certainly wouldn’t kill for more,” he added emphatically, if not necessarily convincingly.

“I’m never surprised at what people will do for money,” she said off-handedly.

For an instant, his eyes turned hard, and then he looked away.

“Were you angry at her when she refused to acknowledge you?” she asked.

“At first I was, but I knew about her illness, and that excused her behavior in my mind. I’m fine with it now. I have no feelings for her one-way or the other. I looked for her believing it would ease her pain of not knowing what had happened to her child, but apparently I shouldn’t have bothered.”

“I think she blocked out your existence to protect herself.”

He said he was fine with it; but I heard something different in his voice.

Alyx began in a soft tone, “I met Althea when she came into the store last spring…”

She then told him all she knew about his real mother up to the day that she’d found her body. Jonathan sat quietly and listened. After that, they ran out of things to say.

Alyx didn’t put the gun away until Steele had left the house. Then she securely locked the door behind him.

“Independent as they are, cats find more than pleasure in our company.”

––Lloyd Alexander

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: The Last Umatilla Trip

Alyx didn’t want to give Carole Berth the opportunity to say no, so she didn’t call ahead before driving to Umatilla again. The temperature was in the high seventies and the sun was shining as usual. It was a lovely day and I was enjoying myself. Better known for palm trees, the beach and Walt Disney World, we drove through the part of Florida that most people from out of state don’t know exists. We passed several miles of agricultural fields, a small grove of orange trees, and an open field with cattle grazing contently, some up close to the fence, their big brown eyes watching the occasional vehicle drive by.

We arrived at Carole’s door before noon. A pale, sickly looking twenty-something young man answered the door. Alyx gave her name and asked to see Carole.

“She’s not home,” he wheezed.

“Do you know when she’ll be back?”

“No clue,” he shrugged.

“Do you mind if I sit out here and wait for a while?”

“Fine with me,” he responded and he closed the door.

She came back to the car and we waited. At one point, I caught the movement of a curtain at one of the windows. I didn’t think it was Carole’s son; the figure I glimpsed before it moved away was much larger. I thought it was probably her husband, and I had a fleeting idea as to why he was hiding from Alyx.

Carole finally arrived home, and was naturally surprised to see Alyx, not to mention me.

“What are you doing out here? Didn’t anyone come to the door?”

“Yes, a young man, who I assume is your son, answered the door, and I told him I’d sit out here and wait for you. He seemed to be having trouble catching his breath, and I didn’t want to make him feel any more uncomfortable. Does he have heart problems?”

“No, he’s full of allergies and has asthma. As you can guess, he doesn’t spend much time outdoors. I’m sorry, did we have an appointment that I forgot?” she asked, more than a little annoyed, I thought.

Alyx pulled the check from the estate sale out of her bag and handed it to her.

“I thought since I had the time, I’d bring this to you.”

Carole took the check and shoved it in her purse. “That really wasn’t necessary, I told you it was all right to mail it,” she said.

“Well, it’s a little more than what I felt comfortable mailing. We sold almost everything and paid you for the items we kept. I’ll arrange for those few things we didn’t sell to be picked up this week if you don’t mind me keeping the key a few days longer.”

I looked hard for any reluctance and didn’t see any––only irritation.

“Actually, the truth for my visit is that I have some questions, and I hope you understand that I have to do whatever I can to help find Althea’s killer.”

“You still want to help her even though my aunt lied to you?”

“If, as you say, she was sick, then she wasn’t responsible for her behavior.”

Carole pursed her lips in resignation but still didn’t invite us in. “So what do you want to know?”

“Detective Smarts isn’t obligated to tell me anything, and he hasn’t, even though I found two pieces of evidence that he missed. Judging from the contents of the lingerie chest that were scattered on Althea’s bed, you must have been looking for something too. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I really have to go. My husband is waiting for something he asked me to pick up for him.”

Alyx stepped off the porch and abruptly turned around before Carole turned the knob.

“Does your husband have a heart condition?”

“I don’t see how my family’s health is of any concern to you. No, he doesn’t.”

That was the end of the conversation. She left Alyx standing there and went into the house without a backward look.

“ The sun rose slowly, like a fiery fur ball coughed up uneasily onto a sky-blue carpet by a giant unseen cat.”

–– Michael McGarel

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: The Train Station Incident

“Hi, Maggie, I know you were worried about my trip to Umatilla, so I thought I’d let you know,” Alyx said into her cell phone as we wound our way back home. “I’m on my way back, about twenty miles out, taking a side trip to the Amtrak railroad station, mostly for sentimental reasons.”

She told Maggie that she remembered the time she’d taken ten year-old Ethan on his first train ride––taking the train to the next stop and back. She said that according to the article she’d read in the paper, the station, originally built in 1813, had a doubtful future as there was only a small amount of money earmarked for its rehab project.

The right exit came up; the route took us through an older residential neighborhood to Old New York Avenue, and into the empty, gravel parking lot of the station. Alyx got out of the car and walked the short distance to the benches on the boarding platform. She seemed preoccupied as she walked slowly back to the car, unaware of a vehicle until it swerved in front of her. As the wheels spun on the gravel, the driver rolled down his window and yelled, “Watch out, you stupid woman!”