Chapter Nineteen

 

I could tell by Dr. Tighe’s face that the news was not good.

“What’s the verdict?” I asked when he came downstairs after nearly an hour spent examining Liana. I’d been hovering outside the dining room, waiting for him while Seamus used the phone in Ogden’s study to contact local hospitals and the police station.

“The good news is her arm isn’t broken. Her shoulder is dislocated.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“She says the reason she was running through the garden last night is you frightened her.”

“What?”

He nodded grimly. “She said her room was hot and stuffy, so she stepped outside for some fresh air. You came rushing out of the dark, and being topped to the gills with cold medication, she became frightened and disoriented and ran into the garden.”

“That’s… That’s absurd.”

“It sounds absurd to me,” Dr. Tighe agreed. “But it’s going to be hard to disprove it. She’s perfectly lucid. In fact, she’s more perked up and energetic than she has been in months. Most of that temper is aimed at you, but it’s still a change for the better.”

“She didn’t say anything about the glowing light or Ogden telling her he needed her with him?”

“Nope. She says that sounds like something you made up to cover for having nearly knocked her off the diving board and causing her to injure her shoulder.”

I floundered. “Something I… Of all the… How the hell does she explain climbing up the diving board in the first place?”

“Panic and cold meds.”

I gave a laugh of disbelief.

Dr. Tighe was sympathetic but regretful. “I did what I could to suggest she might like to get away from Green Lanterns for a while, but she’s not having any of it.”

“I’m telling you, she would have killed herself last night if I hadn’t been there. I don’t care how good an actress she is, she’s a danger to herself and others. Especially my aunt.”

“Well, Hallie’s no fool,” Dr. Tighe said in bracing tones. “She listened to everything I had to say and everything Liana had to say. Forewarned is forearmed.”

I said grimly, “Yeah, but she doesn’t know who and what she’s dealing with.”

Dr. Tighe studied me curiously. “Who and what is she dealing with?”

I remembered Seamus’s words of warning and shook my head. I said instead, “Could we bring in a private nurse? Someone who could keep an eye on her without seeming to keep an eye on her?”

“I thought of that too. She shot the idea down.”

“So there’s nothing you can do?”

Dr. Tighe grimaced. “Well, I’ve given her some pretty strong pain medication for the shoulder. That ought to keep her quiet for a few days.”

“Thanks,” I said glumly. “Let’s hope she bothers to take it.” And let’s hope she didn’t spike Aunt H.’s tea with those pain pills. I put nothing past her at this point.

“Any news of Tarrant?” Dr. Tighe interrupted my scowling reflection.

“Nothing so far. Seamus—er, Cassidy—is phoning around the local hospitals in case he had an accident.”

“Good. Cassidy seems like a capable fellow.”

“Yes.” And why I felt like I’d received the compliment, I had no idea. And less idea why the doctor was giving me that particular look of approval.

“Odd about Tarrant,” Dr. Tighe said as I escorted him to the front door. “Very odd.”

Odd didn’t begin to cover it, but I agreed, promised to phone immediately if Liana’s condition deteriorated (one could always hope), and saw Dr. Tighe off. I went to find Seamus.

He must have finished his phone calls because he was sitting at Ogden’s desk, gazing thoughtfully at the bookshelves. His eyes lit when he saw me.

I felt myself brighten in answer. It was a long time since I’d felt like this about anyone—or anyone had felt like that about me. It was nice.

“Any news?” I asked.

“Hm? No. Nothing. No accidents reported involving a green 1990s Chevy Caprice wagon. No patients matching Tarrant’s description admitted to any hospitals.” He absently rubbed the underside of his chin. “Do you know if the blueprints for this house still exist?”

“I don’t know. You’re still thinking there might be a hidden room somewhere?”

“I guess it’s moot if Tarrant found the money and is on the run.”

“True.” I sighed. “I just saw the doctor off.”

“With Liana in tow?”

“Hardly.” I recounted Liana’s version of events as recounted by Dr. Tighe.

At the end of my recital, Seamus looked thoughtful. “Is there any chance Liana might have deliberately lured you out to the garden?”

“Why would she?”

“You’re your aunt’s sole beneficiary. Correct?”

“Well, yes. There are probably a couple of bequeathals to the Tarrants—” I remembered there was only one Tarrant now and fell silent.

“But the bulk of her estate goes to you?” Seamus prompted.

“Right. Yes. Maybe something of sentimental value will be earmarked for Liana. Anyway, according to you, Aunt H. is broke.”

“Her liquid assets are gone. She still has this house and everything in it. The land alone has to be worth several million dollars.”

“True.”

“What’s the likelihood that, with you out of the way, your aunt might change her will in favor of Liana?”

“Not strong.” I said it with confidence, but on reflection, I wasn’t all that sure. Aunt H. did consider Liana family. That would probably change once Seamus had his little chat with her, but as of this moment, it was feasible that if I ceased to exist, Aunt H. might leave Green Lanterns to Liana. There was literally no one else left. And with no money or family of her own, Liana would probably strike Aunt H. as a worthy candidate. After all, she’d been supporting her sister-in-law for half a decade already.

Seamus said, “There’s no reason to believe Liana—or rather, Lacey—is someone with a strong moral compass. In fact, for all we know, she may have pushed Foxworth into embezzling from his companies. The assumption has always been that she went along with Foxworth’s schemes, but maybe she was the mastermind all along.”

I tried to reconcile that theory with what I knew of Liana. Even the Liana I’d known pre-Ogden’s demise didn’t strike me as a convincing Lady Macbeth. And post-Ogden, she was pretty much a basket case.

Then again, Liana was in actuality Lacey the actress, willing to run off with her embezzler pornographer boyfriend and able to successfully pretend to be his sister for years while living under the roof of his new wife.

I said, “Maybe. But last night she couldn’t have known at what point I’d be walking up from the carriage house—or that I’d chase after her.”

“I know.”

“Besides, I would swear she planned on throwing herself off that diving board.”

“I wasn’t there, so I can’t argue. But I think you should be extra vigilant from now on.”

If I were you, I would leave Green Lanterns at once…

I recalled Roma Loveridge’s warning, and shivered as though an invisible hand ran an icy fingertip down my spine.

I opened my mouth, but my aunt spoke from the doorway behind me.

“Artie—” She paused at what was clearly my visible jump of guilt. “I’m sor—oh. And Mr. Cassidy. I didn’t realize…”

She was puzzled, and I didn’t blame her.

“Hey, Auntie H.!” I sounded as nervous as I had when I was ten years old and she’d caught me in this very room, flipping through Edwin’s full-color anatomy books. “How’s Liana?”

Aunt H. sighed and pushed her hair wearily back from her forehead. “She’s sleeping, thank heavens. She was in such pain, but the pills Dr. Tighe gave her put her right under.”

She looked like she could have used one of those magic pills herself. Wan with fatigue and stress. Her eyes were dark, her mouth colorless. She had changed into slacks, and despite the heat of the day, a pullover sweater.

“Good,” I said vaguely. “That’s good.” I could feel Seamus’s gaze. I knew what he wanted. I also knew that once he spoke to her, everything was going to change. Maybe some of the change would ultimately be for the better. Maybe not. It was the maybe not I feared.

It wasn’t that I believed for one instant that Aunt H. had known anything about Ogden’s criminal past—let alone been complicit in it—but she was going to be stricken by what Seamus was about to tell her. And thanks to Liana, she was not in the best head space to start with. That was the only bright spot in all this. Surely after Aunt H. heard what Seamus had to say, she would send Liana and her pals in the spirit world packing.

“Has something happened?” Aunt H. inquired, looking uncertainly from me to Seamus.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” I said.

Her face clouded over. “Is it to do with Tarrant? I’ve been very worried about him. This isn’t like him. He would never knowingly have left Ulyanna.”

“Tarrant? No. It’s nothing to do with Tarrant.” I threw Seamus a pleading look, though I wasn’t sure what I was pleading for. Go easy on her? Break it gently? Can we do this later? In any case, he wasn’t looking at me. He was sizing Aunt H. up with a cool, appraising stare I didn’t like.

I said, “Aunt H., it turns out Mr. Cassidy is a police officer. He wants to ask you a few questions.”

“A police officer?” Aunt H. looked blank. Then her expression changed to one of genuine terror. She recovered at once, but I couldn’t unsee that expression. Surprise, yes. Confusion, yes. Either of those emotions would be expected. But terror? Why should she look terrified at the idea of talking to the police?

“Questions about what?” Aunt H. asked.

Seamus said quietly, “Artemus.”

I glared at him but said to her, “Look, darling, believe it or not, he’s on our side. Just hear what he has to say. Meanwhile, I’m going to make some phone calls and see if I can track down Tarrant.”

Aunt H. looked even more confused, but she met Seamus’s gaze, and her chin rose. “Of course,” she said. “Ask whatever you like, Mr. Cassidy. Or should I address you by some other rank?”

“Cassidy is fine,” Seamus said. “Would it be all right if we sat over here by the windows, Mrs. Bancroft-Hyde?”

His tone was courteous, respectful, and I relaxed a little. This was going to happen whether I liked it or not.

Aunt H. threw me a strange look before answering coolly, “As you like.”

Seamus didn’t look at me. All his focus was on my aunt now.

He had asked me to trust him, so I would try. At least until he gave me a reason not to.

 

 

It was almost unnerving to walk into the kitchen and find everything returned to normal.

By “normal,” I mean Betty’s body had been whisked away and all emergency vehicles and personnel had departed. What was not normal was to find the room cold and empty and silent.

I’d reassured Aunt H. that I would resume the hunt to locate Tarrant, but standing there staring at the blinking coffee machine and the unlit stove, I knew we had more pressing problems. As in who was going to do the cooking and cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping around here now? As heartless as that no doubt sounded, the question had to be considered.

Sure, in the short term I could take over the cooking and washing up. But that was a temporary measure at best. What about the long term? What about next week when my vacation ended and I had to fly back to New York? Assuming things had calmed down enough that I could leave.

Things had been bad enough when it had been up to poor Betty and Tarrant to try to keep Green Lanterns running. With all that had happened, would it even be possible to hire replacements?

I considered this grimly—and then realized I was taking it for granted Tarrant was gone for good.

Maybe Seamus was wrong about Tarrant being on the run. Even if Tarrant had found whatever was left of Ogden’s embezzled loot, I still found it hard to believe he would have left Betty ill or dying. I sure as hell didn’t believe he’d killed her. Besides, Dr. Tighe had said all indications were that Betty had died a natural death.

What, then?

Had Tarrant found Betty dead and suffered some kind of psychotic break?

Wasn’t that as likely as any other scenario?

What were the other scenarios? So much had happened over the past twenty-four hours, I was starting to lose track.

What were the facts?

The simplest and most straightforward fact was that Betty had died, apparently of natural causes, at some time during the night.

I winced, remembering the ghastly expression on her face. Had she looked like that because she knew she was dying? Or had she seen something that terrified her into having a stroke or a fatal heart attack?

Like what?

Like her father sneaking off into the night with Ogden’s ill-gotten gains? Like Liana wafting around like Vampira? Like Ogden’s ghost? Like Ogden himself—not dead and still very much alive?

Was that so far-fetched an idea? Seamus thought so. But what was the alternative? That Ogden’s disgruntled spirit had returned and was haunting Green Lanterns?

I will never rest until you have paid for what you did.

There was more going on here than Tarrant or Liana or maybe someone else searching for some missing embezzled funds—and whatever it was, it had started with Ogden’s death.

I thought of Aunt Halcyone’s cryptic comments about responsibility and guilt. The fear in her eyes when she’d learned Seamus was a cop.

As much as I didn’t want to believe it, even I had to admit Ogden’s death looked less and less like an accident and more like murder.