Chapter 7

After they left, we stayed outside to take down the Halloween decorations. The briny evening breeze blew in off the ocean, whipping my hair around.

“Where do you want us to put these?” Jack peered over an armload of gray plastic gravestones.

I shivered in the night air, and my thoughts went to Amelia Stone and Dave. Why had she been killed on my beach? This section of the shore was nicknamed Murder Beach because it had been a drop spot for bodies in the old rumrunner days. I didn’t like that people were picking up the habit again.

And Dave. What had changed in his life to turn him from a fun-loving surfer dude into a nervous wreck who needed to make money fast? Well, I could identify with the make-money-fast part.

Jack said, “Cass?”

“Sorry. Just thinking about Dave. I need to talk to him. I have an uneasy feeling.” I crossed my arms against the creeping chill.

“You could leave it alone.”

“No, I can’t.”

He smiled. “I know. Why don’t you go over to see how he’s doing? Gillian and I can handle this.”

I smiled at him gratefully.

“Tell him we’re thinking about him, okay?” Gillian pulled a fake spider web off the azalea bush.

“I will. There might be some room under the eaves in my loft for this stuff, but it can wait until I get back. You could stack the grave stones on the porch and put the smaller items in the dining room for now.”

“No problem.” Gillian lifted the top off a pumpkin. “Maybe we can save some of these candles for next Halloween. We’ll sort it out. Go.”

“Thanks.”

I headed off down the beach to Dave’s. The tide was ebbing, and the sand was firm. His lights welcomed me as I climbed the few steps to his deck and knocked.

Dave looked up from the stack of papers he and Niles were looking through. He slid the patio door open. “C’mon in, Cass.”

I stepped over the threshold. “Hi, guys. We’re taking down the decorations, and I saw your lights on. It’s rare to find Dave home in the evening. He’s usually partying up in the city.”

Niles smiled. “I’ll have to get back to my residency soon, so we thought we’d better see what we can figure out.” He gestured to the pile of paper. “And we have a lot to go over. We left a message for Gerry, but he hasn’t gotten back to us. Aunt Amelia told us she had some serious business to discuss, but we didn’t find anything specific in her stuff.”

“I don’t think we have all her papers. We should call the lawyer she went up to the City to see.” Dave gestured to a chair. “Coffee?”

“Please.” I sat. “So you have no idea what she wanted to talk to you guys about?”

Dave frowned. “Sort of. She was making changes to the trust. There are connected investments. She recently moved some money from one company to another. We signed papers for that transfer.”

Niles shook his head. “She handled everything for us. We trusted her.”

Dave brought me a mug and set sugar and cream on the end table next to me. “Each of us has a personal copy of the trust documents, so no mystery there. But we don’t have copies of the proposed changes.”

“We just don’t know for sure what she planned to discuss with us. We think she wanted to change the structure of the beneficiaries and payouts, but we don’t know for sure.” Niles looked over at Dave. “Dave was worried. I have massive student loans, as you can imagine. The police have already talked to me about that.”

“The cops are doing an autopsy, so they won’t release her for burial until they’ve concluded their investigation,” Dave said. “Who knows when that’ll be. But when it’s over, we’ll at least find out if what she wanted to discuss was medical. You know, like cancer or something.”

“Thanks.” I fixed my coffee and stirred. “Maybe she wanted to discuss something simple like holiday plans with you guys. Do you usually get together at Christmas or Hanukah?”

“No, she indicated that this was trust business.” Dave shook his head. “Our family is like a spider’s web. Strung out all over. Loosely connected mess of cousins. The occasional dead bug wrapped in silk.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I had no response to that.

Niles shrugged. “We don’t usually get together for much of anything. No reunions. No holiday gatherings. Not even birthdays. Mostly our family is comprised of overeducated and undersexed loners.”

I almost choked on my coffee.

He held up his hand. “By that I mean that if you added up all the college degrees among the cousins and all the children, the degrees would be triple the number of kids.”

Dave freshened Niles’ cup. “Few siblings but quite a few cousins. Aunt Amelia had no children. Niles and I are Gram’s only grandchildren, but her sister has three grans. So second cousins galore.”

Niles picked up the story. “The elders don’t last terribly long. Heart attack. Stroke. Skydiving accidents. But I’m sure that’s more than you wanted to know.”

I shook my head. “That’s fascinating. And if I follow you, the two of you are the only surviving heirs of your side of the family. If something happens to the two of you, does another branch inherit?” I waved my finger between the two of them.

They exchanged a questioning look with each other.

Dave shrugged. “No idea. I don’t have a will. You, Niles?”

Niles shook his head. “Never thought about it.”

“The State of California will be happy to help you out by taking a chunk if you guys don’t get wills, you know.”

Dave nodded. “Yup. That’s one of the things we need to look into. I’m assuming Aunt Amelia had a will. She administers the trust, but she has money in her own right.” Dave gestured at some of the piles on the table. “This is everything I’ve collected. Niles brought his copy of the trust agreement and his correspondence with Aunt Amelia. We looked at the papers she had with her that were at the police station, but they kept them. We assume the accountant will fill us in if her visit was related to the trust. I honestly didn’t pay attention to the name of the lawyer.”

I had another thought. “Do you think she knew about her ex-husband teaching here?”

The guys exchanged a look.

Dave said, “I doubt it. We didn’t know, and I live here. He didn’t contact me.”

“Nor me,” Niles said.

“On the news—”

Niles cut me off. “We’re not watching the news. It’s really upsetting. We weren’t that close, but the way she was killed…” He shook his head.

Dave got up and paced. “She was our mothers’ sister. She loved us. Protected us.”

As Dave rubbed the back of his neck, I felt more like an intruder. I put my mug down and rose. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Dave. I’m right next door if you need anything.”

He gave me a bear hug. “Thanks, Cass.”

I closed the door behind me and walked to my cottage. The moon shone full and glistening. I slipped in my back door, happy to be home again. The warm glow from the living room drew me forward. Thor greeted me, rubbing against my ankles. Jack had turned on the gas fire, and the newly born flames flickered off the warm wood and green tile surround. Gillian sat on the edge of the couch taking pictures of the Deco figurines on the Stickley coffee table. She looked up as I entered, smiled, and nearly knocked over one of the statues. My joy bubbled up in my chest, and I laughed.

Having escorted me to the others, Thor settled into a ball in the glider and promptly fell asleep.

Gillian uploaded the pictures to her laptop and closed it. “Anyone hungry?”

“I’m not terribly hungry. Soup and sandwiches? Jack?”

“Works for me. How was Dave?”

“Really upset. They don’t know much more than we do. He seemed very disturbed by the way she died.”

“According to the news, bludgeoned and throat cut. Pretty brutal,” Gillian said.

I shivered. “I’m going to turn on the exterior lights and lock the doors.” I walked into the kitchen to flip on the lights. I looked back at Dave’s cottage.

Gillian came up behind me. “Are they okay?”

“Not sure. Remember how worked up Dave was? Today they seem calmer. Subdued even, but they got more upset as I asked questions. I haven’t known Niles long enough to read him, but Dave seems stunned and a bit lost. Turns out it’s not a close-knit family, but it seems odd that they didn’t know about Darius.”

“I’m not sure I’d mention Jack if we were divorced or even know if he switched jobs.”

“Are you divorcing me?” He walked up behind us and opened the fridge to pull out the cold cuts.

“If you’re going to eavesdrop, do it for the whole conversation.” Gillian reached for plates. “I’m only divorcing you if you don’t get me a glass of that lovely Muscat.”

“Your wish is my command.” He grabbed the chilled bottle.

“I wish!”

“Ha ha.” He handed her the bottle.

I got the glasses. “I’ll have some, too. I need a little sweetness in my life right now.”

“You should get George to take you up to Napa.” Gillian poured me a glass and then one for herself.

“I’ll have to get right on that.” I took the glass and sipped.

“He seemed really concerned about you when they found the body.”

“And yet he doesn’t tell me a thing.”

“Use your feminine wiles.” Jack made himself a ham and cheese sandwich. “I could call him about the car again. Lure him over.”

“What feminine wiles?” I laughed. “I know I shouldn’t eat at night, but that sandwich looks good.” I took a plate and two slices of rye. “And thanks for the offer, but I’m a grownup. I’ll call him. I’m going to invite him to dinner. Are you two up for Cajun?”

Jack frowned and cocked his head. “You don’t cook. The women in our family don’t cook.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What have you been eating since you got here?”

Jack counted items off on his fingers. “Let’s see. Pizza. Sandwiches. Eating out.”

“Dilled eggs? Scallops wrapped in bacon?” I said.

“Breakfast doesn’t count.”

“I can see you never want to eat again.” Gillian reached for what was left of his sandwich.

“Hey! I made that myself.”

“Settle, you two. I’m asking if you’ll eat Cajun if I make it.” I saw the mischief in Jack’s eyes when he smiled, so I added hastily. “Without grabbing your throat and pretending you’ve been poisoned.”

“You take all the fun out of life, sis.”

Gillian swatted him lightly on the arm. “Of course we will.”

“Let’s take our food and dessert into the living room. Anything more on the news?” I carried my sandwich, wine glass, and a tin of shortbread into the other room.

Gillian brought the bottle of wine and sat next to Jack, wrapping up in the red crocheted afghan.

I sat in the glider Thor had vacated and turned on the reading lamp.

Gillian picked up the remote and checked the recorded news programs, selected one, and played it. When she fast-forwarded over the sports segment, Jack yelped. Gillian scowled at him. “You can watch the scores later. Focus. We want to know what the reporters found out if they’re even covering the story.”

I sat up straight. “George.”

“What do you know? Our George is a TV star.” Gillian rewound to catch the beginning of the story.

George was one of the people the reporter tried to interview. I could have told them he’d say “no comment.”

The reporter narrated footage of my Halloween decorations and the beach that looked as though it had been shot with a cell phone.

“And so are you.” Jack smirked.

My turn to glower at him. At least they hadn’t tried to interview me.

My cell rang.

“Hey, George. I was going to call you later.”

“I beat you to it.”

“You did. What’s up?”

“I thought you might like to go to dinner tomorrow night. I’m off.”

That stunned me, but I recovered quickly. “Better yet, why don’t you come over here for dinner? It would mean putting up with my brother, but your reward would be some Cajun cooking.” I smirked at Jack.

Jack rolled his eyes. I stuck out my tongue at him. Gillian put her hand over her mouth, but her shoulders shook.

“If my experimentation doesn’t turn out well, you can take me out.”

“I’m sure it will be great. What time?”

“Six-ish?”

“Terrific. See you then.”

“Absolutely!” I flicked my cell off. “Ta da!”