| |
Beatrice and Meadow glanced at each other.
“Why would you say that?” asked Beatrice.
Della snorted. “Because Malcolm and I didn’t do it. And Sadie is dead. The only person left is Hawkins, unless you think Barkis did it. And why on earth would he do that? This family is his entire life. Besides, Hawkins has been acting strange lately. He’s been very erratic with when he eats and when he sleeps. He wanders around at night almost like a ghost. I was relieved when he said that he was going to get up early in the morning and help Barkis because it meant that maybe things were going back to normal. But instead?” Della shrugged. “Who knows how messed up he’s going to be now?”
Meadow said with a frown, “So you think that Hawkins is putting on an act about how upset he is? Because if he is, he must be a very good actor.”
Della shrugged. “Maybe he’s not acting. Maybe he’s upset with himself. Upset that he lost control and killed Sadie, his own sister.”
“But you don’t have any proof of that?” asked Beatrice.
“No. But who else could it be?” asked Della.
“Well, after Caspian’s death you were fairly positive it must have been Wynona who was responsible,” reminded Beatrice.
Della shrugged again. “That’s because it made sense. It doesn’t make sense that Wynona would kill Sadie. They were friends.”
“Does it make sense that Hawkins would kill his sister?” asked Meadow skeptically.
“Look, I really have no idea. I’m totally speculating. But it could be that Sadie saw something that made her think that Hawkins was responsible. Maybe she met up with Hawkins last night or this morning or whenever to confront him about it. He could have panicked and killed her,” said Della. “All I know is that Sadie is gone. And I can’t believe that she won’t be my sister anymore.” She sobbed.
Beatrice thought that it was a bit premature for Della to think of Sadie as a sister, especially since she wasn’t even engaged to Malcolm yet. She also didn’t feel much like comforting Della, and was relieved when Meadow came through with another hug.
Meadow also came through with a plug for the Village Quilters. “I tell you what you need,” said Meadow in an earnest voice. “You need to get out of this house. This house is just sad and dark right now. You need to come to the guild meeting. Once you sit down with us and create something, you’ll feel so much better. Art is so cathartic. And sharing art with others is even more so!”
Della looked dubious. “I’m sure I’d enjoy myself. But I also have to think about Malcolm. Now he’s lost half his family and he really needs my support.”
“Of course, of course,” said Meadow quickly. “Malcolm depends on you, I know. But just keep the guild in the back of your head in case you want to do something completely distracting. Because the guild is distracting, isn’t it, Beatrice.”
“I’ll say,” said Beatrice dryly.
“Thanks,” said Della with a smile. “I’ll keep it in mind.” Her eyes opened wide. “I wonder if we’ll be able to have the service tomorrow, after all. We were planning on having Caspian’s funeral tomorrow afternoon. But now, with all this?”
Beatrice said, “As hard as it is to imagine, it might be best for the family to just go ahead with that plan. It might be easier to deal with Sadie’s death after putting Caspian to rest. Having at least a little closure before trying to handle Sadie’s death and service.”
Della thought about this for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll mention that to Malcolm. I’m sure he’ll be the one taking over planning Sadie’s funeral. Hawkins isn’t going to be any help.” She gave a sudden short laugh. “And at least we all know what type of service Sadie would have wanted! She made that pretty clear when we were all trying to plan Caspian’s funeral. Hopefully, Malcolm is remembering that while he’s talking with Wyatt outside. And with any luck, Hawkins isn’t trying to push some sort of modern service again.”
The front door pushed open and Hawkins stumbled through in tears. He collapsed into a chair, head back in his hands.
Della gave Beatrice and Meadow a look. “I’m going outside with Malcolm and Wyatt,” she announced. When she passed Beatrice, she leaned over and muttered, “Please see what you can do with Hawkins. He’s a disaster.”
Beatrice wished that Wyatt had come back in. She felt a little helpless when dealing with disasters.
Fortunately, Meadow got up and sat down in the chair next to Hawkins. She patted his knee. “You’ve had such a shock this morning. Do you want me to get you something? A coffee or something to eat?”
Hawkins lifted his head and looked hopefully at her. “A drink?”
Meadow looked startled. “A drink? Well ... sure. Okay. It’s five o’clock somewhere, right? I’ll go in the kitchen and rustle something up.”
She left the room and Beatrice said, “Things will start looking up soon. You’ve just had two big shocks right after the other. People are worried about you.”
“People?” asked Hawkins. A glimpse of curiosity crossed his features.
“Well, Della, for one. And Malcolm, too,” said Beatrice.
Hawkins looked less-interested and shrugged a shoulder. “Family,” he muttered.
Beatrice said, “As a matter of fact, not just family. Wynona is helping me with my wedding—I don’t know if you knew that. She asked me specially to come over and make sure that you’re all right.”
Now Beatrice had Hawkins’ full attention. “Really? She brought me up?”
“Not only did she bring you up, but she was worried about you.” Beatrice paused. “I understand that you and Wynona broke up because of family reasons. But I know when I’m going through a rough time, having a friend to talk to really helps.”
Hawkins sat very still, considering this. “But I broke up with her. And then ... well, I wasn’t the best person when she tried to get back together with me. My father, you know. He didn’t approve of Wynona. Long ago he’d had an argument with Wynona’s father. Not only that, but he had some sort of dream of me marrying someone who’d bring more wealth into the family—a first son marrying well scenario. It was ridiculous, and I told him so. But he was a stubborn man. I didn’t get anywhere with him by arguing. I ended the relationship.”
Beatrice said gently, “But Wynona didn’t accept that, did she?”
Hawkins shook his head. “She knew that I still cared for her. And she still cared for me. When I didn’t take her calls, she’d drop by.” He sighed. “She’d be chased off by Father or Barkis or someone. She was persistent for a while, but then she stopped coming.”
“Wynona is clearly still thinking about you,” said Beatrice. “She must have some feelings still for you.”
Hawkins shook his head again. “I don’t see how,” he said slowly. He thought for a moment and then repeated sadly, “I don’t see how. I’ve made so many mistakes.”
“Why don’t you reach out to her? Leave it up to her?” asked Beatrice. “If you don’t give her the chance to decide whether she wants to have a relationship with you again, then you’re making the decision for both of you. And that’s not really fair.”
Hawkins sighed. “You’re right, you’re right. Of course you’re right. I just hate that when I finally reach out to her, it’s because I need something. Or someone. But this has been so horrible ... what’s been happening.” He gave an even bigger sigh. “I’ve been such a screw-up. I don’t think I’ve done anything right. I’ve wasted my father’s money. I’ve not been able to find any decent employment. I haven’t been able to sustain a relationship.” He gave a short laugh. “And now I’m a suspect in two different murder investigations.”
Meadow came bustling back in. “Well, that took a while. Sorry. I didn’t realize that y’all kept your liquor in a special cabinet. I was pawing through the pantry as if you kept your alcohol in the same spots we do.”
Hawkins took the drink from Meadow and then said with a small smile. “And, after all that trouble, I think I’m going to decline your drink. It’s morning. I need to hold on better than I’m doing right now. I’ll be okay without it.” He stood up and put the glass on a table across the room before sitting back down.
“Would you like to talk about it? What happened this morning?” asked Beatrice hesitantly.
He paused for a moment and then nodded quickly. “I think so. Maybe it would help to get the images out of my head. Of Sadie just floating there.” He shuddered.
Beatrice said, “I understand you were up early this morning? Something to do with Barkis?”
Hawkins looked grateful at the prompt. “That’s right. I was trying to get back into the swing of things. Trying to keep my head screwed on straight. Besides, Barkis needed to know what to do with some projects he’s working on. Before, he’d have just asked Father, but now—I needed to step in. I told him I’d be up early this morning and we’d look at it together. He likes to work early before it starts getting too hot outside.”
“And you walked by the lake?” asked Beatrice.
“That’s right. I passed a section of the grounds where Barkis was putting up pavers. There was a wheelbarrow there with paving bricks and then there were a couple on the ground. I thought the ones on the ground were kind of weird because Barkis is always so deliberate with everything he does. I glanced around to see if there was anything else out of place.” Hawkins hesitated. “Then something in the water caught my eye.” He took a deep breath.
Meadow said with feeling, “You poor thing. After the week you’ve had!”
He said, “I knew it was Sadie. And I knew that something must have happened to her. It wasn’t as if Sadie would have gone swimming in the lake. Even if she had, she’s a strong swimmer. I called Barkis first, though, before I called the police. I just couldn’t leave her in the lake. Barkis and I pulled her out.” He gave a short laugh. “And obviously I didn’t have an alibi since I was the one who found her. I’m sure the police are going to love that.”
Beatrice said, “But what about last night? It sounds as if Sadie usually took walks at night and not early in the morning?”
Hawkins said, “That’s no help, either. I couldn’t sleep, so I was on my computer in my room for hours. No one saw me.” He sighed. “This is just so tragic. I loved Sadie, I really did. I mean, we would have stupid arguments, of course. We were brother and sister, after all. But growing up, we spent tons of time together, being closest in age. We used to stand up to Father together. That is, Sadie probably stood up to Father better than I did.”
“Malcolm said that you seemed to be standing up to your father quite a bit more in the last couple of months,” said Beatrice. “At least, that he heard you arguing.”
Hawkins nodded. “I’d started to realize what a terrible mistake I’d made by listening to Father and ending my relationship with Wynona. As that became more and more obvious, I argued more and more with him about the control he was taking in my life. Control that he’d bought, in a way.”
Meadow said, “No wonder you’ve been looking so anxious lately. You’ve had a lot on your mind!”
Hawkins said, “I have. And now I’m feeling so guilty on top of everything else. I actually believed that Sadie might be responsible for our father’s death. That was just me slinging out wild accusations. She obviously had nothing to do with it. I see that, now.”
Beatrice asked, “Who do you think might be responsible for this?”
Hawkins blew out a big gust of a sigh. “I’m wondering if it could have been Malcolm. Oh, but I really hate to speculate, since that got me in trouble last time. But every time I overhear Malcolm talking about Father’s death, he seems to be intimating that it has something to do with me. That I was the one who was arguing so much with Father—that our relationship had soured enough that I might consider somehow getting rid of him. Even you were saying that Malcolm had brought up our arguing.”
“You’re wondering if maybe Malcolm is blaming you to divert attention from himself?” asked Beatrice.
Hawkins shrugged. “Maybe.”
Beatrice said, “Della said that she and Malcolm were just waking up when you came back to tell them about Sadie.”
Hawkins raised his eyebrows. “Really? Because he sure didn’t look as if he’d just woken up to me. He was very alert.” He sighed. “I can’t believe Sadie is gone. She was so good ... nothing like me. I was always worried about all the wrong things while Sadie was out trying to save the world, do good deeds, pursue social work, whatever. She was still talking about justice to me even yesterday.”
“What was she saying?” asked Beatrice.
“She said that Father was dead for the wrong reasons.”
“But that makes it sound as though she knew who was responsible for your father’s death,” said Beatrice slowly.
At that moment, the front door opened again and Malcolm and Wyatt came in. Hawkins stopped talking and looked back down at the floor.
Wyatt said, “We’ve gotten some basic plans set for a service for Sadie—and we’re keeping Caspian’s tomorrow, as scheduled.”
Beatrice stood up. As soon as Malcolm walked in through the door, she felt tension in the room. “We should probably be going,” she said quickly.
Meadow stood up too and gave more hugs to Hawkins and Malcolm. “We’re so, so sorry. Would you like me to bring food tomorrow?” she asked.
Malcolm said with a smile, “You’ve already done so much, Meadow, thank you. Besides, after Father’s service tomorrow, we’ll probably have plenty of leftover food.”
Wyatt said, “I’ll make sure that the ladies at the church know that the service is still set for tomorrow. And yes, you should have plenty of leftover food. They do a wonderful job.”
They walked out of the house and Wyatt carefully closed the door behind them. He grimaced at Beatrice. “I hate that they’ve had another tragedy there in such a short period of time,” he said in a low voice.
Meadow gave a gusty sigh. “Isn’t that the truth?” She looked over the yard and saw Ramsay in the distance, behind police tape. He had a group of state police officers around him, surveying the scene. “I suppose Ramsay will be working late again.” She squinted and then stopped completely, peering into the distance. “What’s that?”
“What’s what?” asked Beatrice.
Meadow gasped. “I think ... well, take a look over there and tell me what you see.”
Beatrice and Wyatt stopped too, frowning and looking into the distance.
“Is that ... could that be Maisie?” asked Beatrice.