We enjoyed the rest of our evening. On the drive home, Red took my hand. “Did you really suggest Joe investigate Eli?” Red asked.
I avoided direct eye contact. “He’s a suspect in a murder investigation.”
He grinned. “He also happens to be dating your daughter.”
“Two completely unrelated incidents.”
“Careful, your nose might start growing.” He smiled. After a few moments, he hesitantly added, “So, you wouldn’t be upset if someone you know in law enforcement had…already done a full background check on him?”
I twisted in my seat to get a better look at his face. “Are you trying to tell me that you ran a background check on Eli Goldstein because he was dating my daughter?”
“Maybe.” He gave a couple of quick glances in my direction. “I’m not admitting anything without my legal counsel present, especially if it’s going to make you angry.”
I tried to scowl but I couldn’t maintain it. Instead, I unbuckled my seat belt, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m going to accept that your heart was in the right place.” I refastened the seat belt and leaned back. “Although, I don’t think we should tell Stephanie that.”
He grinned. “Fine with me.”
When I got home, Stephanie was already asleep. I let Rex and Aggie out for a quick potty break before going to bed where I tossed and turned for a long time. Something was bothering me, but I couldn’t put my finger on what, exactly it was. I tried to relax and let my mind drift. However, nothing came to me. Eventually, I fell asleep and dreamed of a poodle running through a field of chocolate.
Thursday morning started much the same as the previous morning. When I woke up, Stephanie and Lucky were outside on the back deck. Aggie and Rex hurried to take care of their business.
“You were home early,” I said.
“Eli said he had work to do, so…” She shrugged. Then she turned her head and glanced at me. “While you, on the other hand, were out rather late.”
I couldn’t avoid smiling.
She leaned over and hugged me. “You and Red are so cute together. I’m really happy for you.”
After a few moments, I shared what I’d learned with her.
“I’m sorry Mom, but I think Red’s right. You can’t look at the books…not legally anyway.”
I smiled. “Well, there are other ways.”
“Mother, as an attorney, I can’t know anything about illegal—”
I waved away her disclaimer. “I’m your mother and a law-abiding citizen. I can’t believe you think I’d do anything illegal.”
She narrowed her eyes and stared, but after a few moments she said, “Good, because I think it would break Red’s heart to arrest his girlfriend.”
“Oh, you.” I gave her a playful swat.
Dixie and I planned to stop by the hospital later in the day to see Mrs. Huntington, but other than that, I was happy to get to spend a little time with Stephanie. I fixed breakfast and we sat on the deck and talked.
The doorbell rang, and I was surprised to see Joe and Turbo on the porch.
“Joe, what a nice surprise.” I stared. He looked tired as though he hadn’t slept much.
“Is Stephanie here? I need to talk to her.”
“She’s on the deck.”
He and Turbo walked back. The set of his jaw told me this was likely to be an unpleasant conversation so I decided now would be a good time to do housework. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I chose to start with laundry.
The washer and dryer were in the kitchen. By the time I finished loading the washer, I could hear raised voices from the deck.
“You were following me? I can’t believe you followed me.”
Joe’s voice wasn’t as loud, but I could easily make out what was said. “I wasn’t following you. I was following Eli.”
“Same difference.”
“No, it’s not, but the bottom line is while I was following him, I happened to see him making out with another woman, a redheaded—”
“I don’t want to hear this. You have no right to spy on me or Eli.”
I could tell by the edge in Stephanie’s voice that she was beyond upset, although I wasn’t sure if she was angry at Joe or Eli or both. I’m not sure it really mattered. I quickly got the washer started and decided now would be an excellent time to run the vacuum in my bedroom since that room was the farthest away from the back deck.
The sound of the vacuum cleaner was able to drown out their voices, and the vacuum’s long cord enabled me to move from my bedroom to the guest room without stopping. After a few moments, I heard a door slam and then a car speed away. I glanced out the front window and Joe’s car was gone. I vacuumed the two guest bedrooms and was about to wash windows when Stephanie came inside.
“Did you hear that?”
I thought about lying but didn’t think I could pull it off. “I heard some of it.”
Her face was red, and she was livid. “I can’t believe he followed us. He actually followed us.”
“Did he mention why?”
She paced across the floor. “Oh, he said he was tailing Eli, but I don’t believe him.”
“Well, honey, he is a policeman and he was probably just helping out with the investigation.”
She paused. “You knew about this?”
I was taken aback by the question, but decided honesty was the best policy. “I didn’t know he was going to follow Eli, but…I might have suggested he help Red with the investigation.”
She stared at me openmouthed.
“Actually, I might have suggested he specifically investigate Eli.”
“I can’t believe you did that.” She stared at me for several moments and then marched to the guest room and closed the door.
I thought about knocking on her door but didn’t have the courage or the nerve. Instead, I decided to give her a little space. One thing I’ve learned as a parent is that sometimes time and distance can heal much better than words. Stephanie was upset, maybe rightly so. However, when she calmed down, I prayed she would realize that both Joe and I had good intentions. I could explain and apologize later.
I ran some errands which involved picking up dog food, a stop at the dry cleaners, getting my oil changed and scheduling appointments for a manicure and pedicure for the next day. Optimistically, I scheduled appointments for both me and Stephanie. Even if she was still angry with me, she probably wouldn’t pass up a free mani/pedi. Dixie and I planned to stop by the hospital to check on Mrs. Huntington before dog class. However, when I got a call from Red saying she was asking for me, we changed our plans. I sent Dixie a message and she said she’d be by the house to pick me up in twenty minutes. That gave me enough time to drive home. I took the food and dry cleaning inside.
Stephanie was sitting on the deck with the three dogs.
“Red called and said that Mrs. Huntington regained consciousness enough to ask for me. Dixie and I are going to the hospital.”
She looked concerned. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
I scowled as I tried to come up with the best plan. I checked my watch. “I don’t know how long I’ll be at the hospital. I guess I should take Aggie and Rex with me, so we don’t have to drive back here before dog class. Although I’m not sure if Dixie is in the RV or her car.” I pulled out my cell phone to send Dixie another text.
“Why don’t I bring the dogs to the dog club?”
“That would be wonderful.”
The doorbell rang.
“That must be Dixie.”
I waffled for a few seconds until Stephanie said, “Go. I’ll be glad to bring the dogs tonight. I don’t have any other plans.”
I didn’t stop to think if there was another meaning behind those words. Instead, I decided to take her at face value and hurried to the door.
Dixie was driving her Lexus, so I felt much better about the decision to leave the poodles behind. I didn’t want to leave them in the car, although Dixie’s luxury vehicle had remote start and we could leave them with air conditioning, radio and treats, there was a huge difference between leaving them in a car versus leaving them inside of a luxury RV which has been custom designed as a poodle transportation haven.
By the time we arrived at the hospital, Mrs. Huntington wasn’t in a state that I would call conscious. Instead, she waffled in between a state of semi-consciousness and deep unconsciousness.
We sat by her bedside and waited for…I don’t know what to happen. After about thirty minutes, she began to toss and turn and mumbled, “Echosby.”
I hopped up and hurried to her side. Clasping her hand, I said, “Yes? This is Mrs. Echosby. I’m here.”
She tossed and mumbled so low I had to lean down to hear.
I bent my ear close to her mouth. Eventually, I heard. “Tea…bad…trust…Echosby.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
She became more agitated.
A beep came from one of the machines connected to her and within seconds a nurse flew into the room.
I stepped away from the bed.
The nurse looked at the pulse monitor and blood pressure and pushed another button. Five more people rushed into the room. One of them was wearing a white coat, which I assumed indicated she was the doctor. The group pushed us aside and barked orders. Something was injected into the I.V.
Dixie and I stood near the wall and held hands as we watched the frantic activity around the bedside.
Within seconds the machine, which had sounded like a frantic alarm earlier, returned to a soft beep and the stress level in the room went from DEFCON one down to DEFCON five. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and with the oxygen returning to the room I was able to breathe again.
The doctor turned to Dixie and me. “What happened?”
Dixie shrugged and I shook my head.
“I have no idea.” I replayed the scene over but still couldn’t figure out what had caused the huge commotion. When I thought of the fact that Mrs. Huntington could have died, I felt as if my knees would buckle from the stress. “Can I sit down?”
The doctor helped me to a seat and I flopped down. She was a petite African American woman with smooth dark skin and a small afro. She looked at me and then reached out and took my wrist and checked my pulse. She must have been satisfied because after a few moments she said, “You’re going to be okay, just take deep breaths.”
I followed orders and felt less shaky. “I’m sorry, doctor. Did I do something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No. She’s been through a great deal of trauma. We were hoping to question her about her medical history, so we delayed putting her in a coma. Plus, the police wanted to question her. However, I no longer have that luxury. I have put her into a coma to help her brain heal so the swelling can go down, but there are no guarantees.”
We asked a few more questions, but the doctor wasn’t able to give us many answers. The only thing we knew for sure was that Mrs. Huntington would be in a coma for at least a week or more so it was unlikely that she would be asking for me or anyone else for quite some time.
When we left the hospital, neither one of us was feeling up to dog training. In fact, Dixie called Beau and told him not to bother bringing Chyna or Leia down the mountain for class. We stopped by the Mellow Mushroom and ordered two pizzas and then picked up some beverages and headed to the dog club.
Everyone was already there by the time we arrived. Dixie explained that she wasn’t up to teaching tonight and asked if anyone would mind if we skipped class. She promised to add an additional class or refund one week of the class fee. Of course, no one was interested in the refund.
Stephanie touched my shoulder. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
I nodded. Something about the compassion in her eyes triggered a nerve and I started to weep.
Stephanie hugged me while I cried for poor Mrs. Huntington who was lying in a coma with no one to speak for her.
Eventually I took a deep breath and pushed away. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry I was such a brat earlier.”
“You weren’t a br—”
“Oh yes I was. I was embarrassed and angry, and I took it out on you and Joe and neither one of you deserved it.”
“I shouldn’t have interfered. It’s just that I’m your mother and you were dating a man who was connected to a double homicide.” I stared at her. “I was worried for you. I wouldn’t have done it for any other reason.”
She smiled. “I know.”
I took a deep breath. If confession was good for the soul, then I might as well make a clean breast of everything. “However, I am dating a TBI Officer and…well, Red had already run a background check on Eli. In fact, regardless of what happens between you and Eli or Joe…I’m pretty sure he’s going to run background checks on everyone you and David become involved with.”
Stephanie shook her head. “It’s invasive and probably unethical and possibly illegal without probable cause.” She smiled. “However, I know he’s only doing it from a place of love and concern.”
We hugged, put the dogs outside and then sat down at the picnic table with the pizza, beer and peach wine coolers that Dixie picked up at the liquor store.
B.J. bit into a slice of pizza. “So now will you tell us what happened?”
Dixie and I took turns filling in the details.
“Good lord, I’ll have to make sure to add her to the prayer list at church,” Monica Jill said.
I updated the group on the information I had from Red. I tried not to keep glancing at Stephanie while I shared what I’d learned about Eli Goldstein’s father, Ivan Bradington and Clarence Darling.
Dr. Morgan was also giving Stephanie a strange look. Eventually, he cleared his throat and said, “I wasn’t sure if I should say anything or not, but in light of what we’ve learned already, I feel like I should.”
Stephanie frowned. “If you know something that will help, please…go ahead.”
Dr. Morgan nodded. “I’m not sure if it will help solve the murder, but Mai,” he blushed. “Mr. Lowry’s gamekeeper mentioned that she had seen Eli Goldstein with Fiona Darling in a very…compromising position.”
Stephanie colored but reached out and patted Dr. Morgan’s hand. “It’s okay.” She took a deep breath. “I had a lot of time alone today to think about the situation and the bottom line is, I don’t really like Eli Goldstein.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Dixie smiled. “Thank God.”
Stephanie laughed. “That’s a strong reaction.”
“I’m sorry, dear.” Dixie reached across and patted Stephanie’s hand. “I didn’t even get a chance to tell your mom, but earlier today I went by Signal Mountain Loan and Trust. I have a friend who works there and I asked her about Archibald Lowry’s Trust. She wasn’t at liberty to give me specific information, but…she did tell me that there might not be as much money in the trust as there was at one time.”
“Sounds like somebody had a hand in the cookie jar,” B.J. said.
Dixie nodded. “That’s the exact impression I got too. In fact, she indicated,” she leaned forward and whispered, “off the record of course, that I might not be able to buy a dog leash with what was left.” Monica Jill sat with her mouth open.
“Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies,” B.J. joked with her friend.
Monica Jill put both hands on her face. “You have got to be kidding. Who could have done that?”
Stephanie glanced down. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”
We all stared at her.
She took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to believe it, but all of the evidence was right there in front of us. Eli Goldstein was the trustee. He had access to the trust. He’s the only one who could have taken the money out.”
I got a flashback and this time rather than flitting away, it stayed. “That’s what bothered me when I talked to Mrs. Huntington.” I stared across at Dixie. “Remember when I told you she said Eli Goldstein had told her she was getting five thousand dollars in the will.”
Dixie nodded.
“Well, the will Stephanie showed us indicated he had left her ten thousand dollars.”
Dixie smacked the table with her hand. “That’s right. I remember now.”
“That low-down dirty…thief,” B.J. said.
“I’ll bet he told all of the beneficiaries they were getting less than what Archibald Lowry intended and then he pocketed the money.”
Dixie stared at me. “I don’t think Fergus Kilpatrick would take too kindly to being swindled out of money he felt entitled to.”
My brain refused to even imagine how Fergus would react.
Stephanie shook her head. “I knew there was something about Eli Goldstein that just wasn’t right. He’s handsome, but…”
I stared at my daughter. “You’re not terribly disappointed, are you?”
“Of course not. If I’m honest with myself, I think I was just flattered by the attention. He was a boost to my ego and…maybe a small part of me wanted to make Joe jealous.”
“Thank goodness.” I took a deep breath.
Stephanie laughed. “He’s handsome, but not very bright. I mean, he kept trying to convince me that all those red hairs on his clothes were from Lucky.” She smirked. “Lucky didn’t even like him and certainly wouldn’t have been that close to him.”
“I’m so glad you picked up on that. I meant to mention it, but you were so upset and then I got the call about Mrs. Huntington at the hospital and it completely slipped my mind.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I put two and two together when Joe mentioned he saw Eli making out with a redhead.” She shrugged. “I had to admit, that Eli wasn’t faithful.” She sighed. “Although he was certainly very handsome.”
“Hmmm he sure is handsome, but that’s not the kind of man you marry. That’s the kind of man you fool around with.” B.J. laughed. “Nah, you want someone you can count on for the long haul. Someone like that police officer of yours. Now, that’s a real man.” She gave Stephanie a playful shove that made her smile. “Plus, he’s mighty good to look at too.”
B.J. and Monica Jill joked with Stephanie about her abundance of nice-looking men which put color in her cheeks and a twinkle in her eyes. For the first time since she arrived, she looked happy.
When the joking subsided, we got serious.
“Okay, so we know Eli Goldstein can’t be trusted, but that doesn’t make him a murderer,” Dixie said.
It doesn’t, but between the red hairs, the poison, the bank robbery and the attempts to nab Rex, it’s all starting to make sense. The pieces of this puzzle were finally starting to fall into place. I had a plan that just might tie up the final loose ends.