“AND I’M SURE your neighbor would find this spacious bathroom to her liking,” Bonnie from Durand and Terry Realty said, giving me a tour through Naomi Easley’s condo. “You’ll note the grab bar for security getting in and out of the soaking tub.”
Not that it helped Naomi any that last night.
Bonnie cleared her throat as if the petite sixty-something had read my mind and pointed the toes of her nutmeg leather flats in the opposite direction. “Moving on, across the hall we have the spare bedroom and the lovely garden view.”
“Very nice,” I could say with all honesty as I imagined Naomi’s final days here. The interior was a little worse for wear, but new carpeting and some updated fixtures, along with a warmer color to replace the eggshell white on the walls, could make this duplex very inviting.
If you didn’t think about the last person to soak in that bathtub.
After showing me the master bedroom at the end of the hall, I followed Bonnie back to the kitchen where she handed me a flyer from a short stack next to a coffee mug full of pens.
“This also has my number if she’d like to schedule an appointment.” Her mauve-tinted lips stretched into a bright smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial. “The condos here typically go fast, so if she’s really interested, she shouldn’t wait too long, if you know what I mean.”
I knew exactly what she meant. But since this condo was listed because of an atypical circumstance, I also knew that it wouldn’t be the one selling like hotcakes.
“So those two gentlemen who looked at the place a while back didn’t make an offer?” I asked after helping myself to an ergonomic grip pen.
Bonnie seemed to downshift into neutral. “I’m sorry. I’m not at liberty to discuss other offers.”
More accurately, there were no other offers, and she couldn’t help me identify Althea’s “guys.”
“No problem.” I had figured it was a long shot, but at least this open house provided me the occasion to check out the scene of the alleged crime. And come away with a pretty nice pen.
I was thinking about all the identical pens Naomi had collected when I noticed Leland Armistead waving some long-stemmed blooms at me from behind the hydrangea bordering his driveway.
“I thought that was you getting outta that car a couple hours back.” He pointed at Donna’s Mini Cooper with his pruning shears. “Canvassing the neighborhood, are you?”
“Not exactly,” I said as I approached. So please don’t tell Steve that if you happen to see him. “I was just chatting with the ladies across the street.”
Zeroing in on the real estate flyer in my clutches, he nodded with approval. “And takin’ the opportunity to get another look at the scene, I see.”
This little old dude was too observant for my comfort level.
Which meant that he was exactly the man I needed to help me fill in a few blanks. “Actually, I went in to chat with Bonnie, the real—”
“The agent who’s havin’ a heckuva time finding a buyer for the place? Oh, I know. She’s bemoaned to me plenty that all she’s gettin’ are curiosity-seekers.”
And just had one more.
“That’s probably to be expected,” I said, tucking the flyer away in my tote and grabbing my notebook. “We’d all like to understand what happened that night.”
“Indeed we would.” Leland’s eyes gleamed with anticipation as I poised my new pen over a fresh page. “Rest assured, I made every effort to be an open book when your nice detective interviewed me, but if there’s some additional information that I can provide …”
“Actually, there is. The ladies across the street mentioned seeing a couple of men at Naomi’s door earlier that afternoon. Althea thought there might be some connection with a tree trimming service.”
“My dear, Althea thinks every stranger in the neighborhood is here to cut down another one of her trees.”
“I understand that the tree incident was very upsetting for her.”
“Upsetting doesn’t do justice to how she felt. I told Naomi that she should have rescheduled, but …” Leland lowered his voice. “I don’t like speakin’ ill of the dead, especially out in the open where everyone can see us. So perhaps you’d like to come in where we can have a more private discussion.”
Indeed I would.
* * *
Two minutes later, I was sitting in a cushy floral-patterned armchair when Leland handed me a tall glass of iced tea with a sprig of mint. “Are you sure I can’t offer you some pound cake? I made it yesterday. My mama’s recipe.” He fixed a loving gaze at the framed picture of Jerome on the table next to me. “A family favorite.”
“Sounds great.” It also sounded like this nice man was hungry for companionship after the death of his partner. “But I have to pass.” And save my calories for the welcome-home party that I was going to be late for if I didn’t move our conversation along.
I took a sip of very sweet tea and set my glass on the ceramic coaster next to Jerome. “You were telling me that you discussed the tree situation with Naomi.”
Leland eased into the padded pine rocking chair six feet away. “I told her that she should wait, but that headstrong woman refused to budge. Said that she had to enforce the community rules.” He slanted me a glance as he raised his glass to his mouth. “They’re very big on rules around here. Sticklers about schedules, too. Unfortunately.”
“Unfortunately? Do you mean the scheduling of that service?”
Swallowing, he slowly nodded as he rocked. “Cuttin’ those trees down changed everything around here. Made enemies out of what had been pretty friendly neighbors and gave Naomi the reputation of being a merciless enforcer.”
“That couldn’t have been fun,” I said, scribbling a note about Naomi, the neighborhood enforcer and killer of trees.
“No, and I’m quite certain that things were said in the heat of the moment that she didn’t mean.”
I stopped scribbling. “She who? Naomi?”
“Oh, no. Althea. Don’t let the fact that she sits docilely with Naomi’s cat on her lap fool you. Althea’s got quite the mouth on her. Just not the vocabulary she used to have. Anyway, I imagine that her only memories of that day are the ones preserved by the pain that’s still swirling around in that brain of hers.”
I wasn’t sure what he was telling me. “The pain of her plum trees being chopped down?” That seemed a little melodramatic.
He looked at me as if I were slower than molasses. “The pain of losing her husband—probably the one constant in her life, helping her keep her memories alive.” He took another peek at his late partner’s picture. “It was a devastatin’ loss that changed everything. Then she fell and lost her mobility right before Naomi chopped down her trees. The woman might as well have chopped Althea’s legs out from under her, ‘cause I’m pretty sure that’s how it felt.”
“You don’t think that—”
“Althea had anything to do with the drownin’? Nah. She didn’t want that cat that bad.” Leland shot me a good-humored grin, but the white-knuckled grip he had on the rocker’s armrests suggested that he had yet to settle the matter in his own mind.
“Did Naomi ever indicate she was concerned that the situation with Althea might escalate beyond words?”
Leland’s expression softened, smoothing some of the lines from the roadmap on his face. “Don’t think that was of much concern. Not at the pace the old gal moves. And, of course, Mavis was there to act as peacemaker.”
He had a point there. Plus, Mavis watched her sister like a hawk. But even hawks had to sleep sometime.
Hearing my phone ding with a message, I figured Donna was ready to leave, so I scanned my notes to see if I had any unanswered questions. That’s when I noticed I had circled white van.
I knew it was a long shot but … “Back to the tree service Naomi called to cut those plum trees, do you happen to remember what kind of vehicle they drove?”
Leland gave me an assessing once-over prior to taking a sip of tea. “I do believe that you’d only ask me that question if it had something to do with the vehicle someone saw in the area that day.”
Once again, this Southern gentleman was proving himself to be keenly observant. “That’s a definite possibility.”
“I knew it. And it was a blue pickup, an old one with a dent in the driver’s side door. No lettering so I can’t help you with the name of the company, but I’m sure Florence Spooner, who took over as grounds committee chair, can provide that to you.” He flashed me an impish grin. “How’d I do? Did the description match?”
Nope. “You did great. Thanks so much for the good info.” I took a long drink of tea and pushed out of the chair. “One last thing before I go. Did you see anyone coming or going at Naomi’s place that Sunday prior to you and Mavis letting yourselves in?”
The grin vanished. “Your friend with that cute little car arrived around noon, same as today. Went to Althea’s place first and then to Naomi’s. Can’t tell you when she left because my nephew came over with the kids to take me out to lunch.”
“You didn’t see anyone you didn’t recognize later in the day? Or a strange vehicle or two in the visitor parking area?”
“Can’t say that I did.” He stopped rocking. “But both Althea and Mavis said that they saw someone at Naomi’s door that day?”
I nodded.
“Hunh. I wonder who it could have been.”
Me too.