The Diva Serves Forbidden Fruit

I have leftover wallpaper that’s too beautiful to throw out. You’re so clever about these things. How can I use it?

The best place for wallpaper is in the trash. It went out of style forty years ago.

I still had some time before the DIY Festival opened for the day. The vendors were arriving, buying cups of coffee and goodies from the local bakeries. I hoped Paisley might be at her tent, refreshing her stock of furniture, so she could tell me where to find her brother.

I stopped to buy some lattes as bribes, to smooth the way into talking with me. When I arrived at Lark’s house, the first thing I noticed was that the crime scene tape had been removed. The front door was open. I could hear Paisley inside, crying, “But I don’t want to sell.”

The front door closed. Even a latte wouldn’t smooth over that. Was she arguing with Humphrey?

The door opened and her brother, Bennett, bounded out as if all he wanted in the world was to get away.

“Bennett?” I said.

He turned to look at me.

“Sophie Winston,” I said. “I was hoping to talk with you. Latte?”

We could hear raised voices inside the house.

“Sure, thanks. I’m sorry. You were a friend of my mom’s, right?”

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Paisley said you were very helpful the day Mom died.” He glanced at the house. “Would you mind if we walked somewhere? Anywhere, really.”

“Who is arguing with Paisley?” I asked as we walked toward Market Square.

“Frank. Who else?”

“I gather he’d like to sell the house?”

We settled on a bench near the fountain where the sun shone on us.

“He, um, he’s good at running through money.” Bennett took a swig of his latte.

A rather amusing assessment given that Bennett was a professional gambler. He probably went through money very fast himself. “I presume that’s the reason Lark arranged for a spendthrift trust?”

“You know about that?”

I nodded. “Humphrey and I grew up together. He was a good choice. I’m sure he’ll be fair and reasonable.”

“I knew about the trust, too. Mom didn’t tell Paisley because she blabs everything to Frank. I can’t blame Mom for not telling her. Look how he’s fighting to sell the house. He should be leaving that up to Paisley and me. It’s wrong of him to be putting Paisley through this right now. Mom just died! The house can wait. Everything can wait. We haven’t even buried her yet.”

“I’m so sorry, Bennett. We all miss Lark.”

“Frank thinks your friend, Humphrey, murdered her,” he blurted, looking straight ahead.

“I think that’s highly unlikely,” I said carefully. Could they know that Humphrey had proposed to Lark?

“I don’t know anyone else who would have knocked her off.”

I didn’t say anything. In my heart, I knew Humphrey couldn’t have killed Lark, but that wasn’t anything that would convince Bennett. “I don’t think Humphrey had anything to gain from Lark’s death,” I pointed out.

“Probably not.” Bennett stared at the latte in his hands. “Paisley has always been a pushover. She has such a kind heart and can’t imagine that anyone would be cruel or unfair,” he said. “She’s still so naïve. I’d have thought she would outgrow that as she got older. But she’s still the same Paisley who believes everything. You know those women who get sucked into sending money to men they meet online? Paisley could be one of them.” He shook his head. “It’s part of what makes her so sweet. I just wish she weren’t so easily duped.”

“I gather you’re not keen on Frank?”

“I suspect I’d like him better if he weren’t related. But I didn’t get a vote in that.” He smiled at me sadly.

“Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to kill Lark?” I asked.

“It has occurred to me that someone might have figured out who she was and intended to burglarize the house. They might not have intended to kill her.”

“Who she was? What do you mean?” I asked.

“Mom’s dad was a world-class jeweler. Not the kind you see in the mall. The kind that the überwealthy come to when they need a gift. He designed one-of-a-kind jewelry. Museums sometimes commissioned him to clean up or restore or even make molds of historic pieces. His jewelry was worn by movie stars and royalty. After my dad died, Poppy, my mom’s father, moved here from New York to live with her. Maybe someone thought there was a stash of gemstones or gold in the house.”

“Where is Poppy now?”

“He died a few months ago.”

I gasped.

“Natural causes. No one murdered him,” he said calmly.

“I knew he had moved here, but I had forgotten all about him,” I said.

“She took care of him for a couple of years and when he died, she decided to take a long vacation to get away and relax a little. Focus on herself again.”

“Was she worried about anything?”

He snorted. “Besides Paisley and her brood?”

“Is there anything to worry about or was she just being a mom?”

He turned his head and eyed me as though he was trying to figure out just how much to reveal about their family dynamics. “Both, I guess.” He winced a little. “Frank thinks he has the world figured out. He thinks he’s smarter than everyone else.”

“Is he?” I asked.

Bennett snorted. “Definitely not. I knew another guy like that. He dropped out of college after a few weeks because he said there was nothing they could teach him. At the time, I thought maybe he was some kind of savant who really did know more than the rest of us. Today he slings burgers at a fast-food joint. Don’t misunderstand me, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not what you’d expect of a genius.”

“Frank has an inflated opinion of himself?” I asked.

“That’s a good way of putting it. For instance, he didn’t graduate from college, much less law school, but he thinks Mom’s lawyer, Alex German, is an idiot. Frank thinks he knows more about the law and wants to challenge the trust.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“Annoyed. I’m going to have to pay some lawyer to get rid of what will ultimately be a nuisance filing. But that’s how Frank is about everything. He’s so certain that he can manipulate any situation in which he finds himself, when the sad truth is that he not only spins his wheels but often digs them deeper into the mud and then has to get himself out of trouble. Of course, you understand that it’s never his fault. It’s all of his making and his crazy ideas, but everyone else is stupid and out to get him. Did Mom tell you that he and Paisley are being sued?”

“No! What for?”

“As I understand it, a guy named Walter Wicklin was getting a divorce and went to Frank for advice on hiding his assets. Wicklin claims Frank suggested transferring his savings into Frank’s name so the wife wouldn’t find the money and, even if she did, then she couldn’t have it. Frank claims Wicklin gave him that money as payment for his services.”

“If Wicklin is right, that would be a scam on so many levels!” I exclaimed. “Do you think Wicklin is telling the truth?”

“Let’s say I’m very much afraid Wicklin is telling the truth. It sounds just like the disordered and confused ideas that Frank gets.”

And then before I thought it through, I blurted, “How can Paisley stay with a man who would do something like that?”

Bennett shot me a look and said in a dull tone, “Because she loves him.”

“Ouch. That sounded bitter.”

“Not so much bitter as frustrated. What will it take before she sees Frank for what he is?”

Again, I found that somewhat ironic coming from a gambler. Gambling wasn’t illegal, of course, but a little cloud of swindler hung around the avocation of gambling.

“Frank isn’t malicious,” he said. “Paisley wanted to go into business with me, but I bailed as soon as Frank was involved. He doesn’t think like a regular person. The ideas that he put forth scared me. It was a legitimate business, but Frank was making it into something shady. I wanted no part of it.”

I was itching to come right out and ask him if he thought Frank could have killed his mom, but it just seemed rude. “I get the impression they’re in need of money. They have such a big family.”

Frank tossed the empty latte cup into a nearby wastebasket like he was shooting a basketball. “Mom was one smart cookie to protect Paisley’s inheritance.” He sighed. “I feel like Mom is still in Portugal and she’s going to come home tomorrow or next week. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that she’s gone.” He shot me a funny look. “Are all those people waiting to talk to you?”

“Huh?” I looked over my right shoulder. A line of vendors had formed. “I’m afraid so.”

He stood up and reached out his hand for me to shake. “Thanks for listening to me drone on about the family.”

“It was my pleasure. If there’s anything I can do, just give me a call.” I handed him my card.

He walked away and was immediately replaced by a vendor whose wallet had been stolen. I headed straight to his tent with him, and called Wong, who showed up promptly. While she peppered him with questions, I gazed around the tent. He had created all kinds of clever storage solutions for everything from socks and shoes to paper towels and spices.

I was on my hands and knees when I felt a tug on my jacket. Thomas, Paisley’s oldest child, had crawled under a display table behind me.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for a wallet.”

“Can I look with you?”

“Of course!”

Three minutes later, Thomas asked, “Is that what you’re looking for?”

Sure enough, a man’s wallet was barely visible, wedged between two cardboard boxes where it had probably fallen. I reached for it. Trust a kid to see what all the adults had overlooked. “Found it!” I said in a loud voice. I handed it to Thomas. “How about you give it to Officer Wong since you’re the one who spotted it?”

I was still on the ground, crawling backward, when I heard Officer Wong ask, “Is this your wallet?”

Thankfully, everything was there. The vendor handed Tommy a twenty-dollar bill.

Tommy’s eyes grew large. For five seconds I could see the excitement in his face. And then, he handed it back to the vendor. “Thank you, sir, but I don’t deserve this. I’m glad I could help you.”

With all the grown-ups watching in awe, Tommy smiled and left the tent. I could hear people saying, “Are you kidding? I would have taken the money!”

The line of people I had seen earlier had followed me. I took care of their problems in fairly short order and was surprised when no one else demanded my attention. I spotted Tommy sitting on the front steps of Lark’s house.

I went over and sat down next to him. “It was very nice of you to find the man’s wallet. And quite noble to turn down his reward.”

“My nana said the real reward is in helping someone else.”

“Your nana was very smart.”

“I miss her.” He let out a little sigh. “I used to come over here and stay with her. All by myself, without my brothers.”

I could imagine what a treat that must have been for him. Behind us, inside the house, I could hear Paisley’s shrill voice, “You had no right! Those are my family heirlooms. Not yours to sell. I can’t help it if your family sold everything they ever treasured. Now where is it?”