Classified As Murder

THIRTY-TWO

I figured Diesel had earned his cheese. I wasn’t worried about him eating the Baggie. He knew how to get into one and extract the contents. I had to hope he wouldn’t try to devour all the cheese before I had a chance to stop him.

Anita wrenched her hand out of my grasp. The momentum caused her to fall out of her squatting position and land hard on the floor on her behind.

I pulled my handkerchief out of my pants pocket and used it to pick up the archival folder. I stood and looked down at Anita. “Your trip out of town wouldn’t have anything to do with this, would it? Found a buyer already?”

Anita didn’t respond. I could almost see the wheels turning in her brain as she labored to find a reply. She scrambled to her feet, and I thought she was going to bolt. I moved between her and the door, but I had misread her intentions. She scurried over to the bell near the fireplace and slammed her hand against the button.

“Thanks,” I said. “When Truesdale responds to that, I’ll ask him to call the sheriff’s department for me. Deputy Berry is going to be mighty interested in this.” I brandished the folder. “And how you came by it.”

Anita squared her shoulders. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s mine, I’ll have you know.”

“Oh, really.” I couldn’t believe the nerve of the woman. “That’s really interesting. Mr. Delacorte had a copy of it, too.”

Anita’s eyes widened. “He did?” She was doing her best to appear surprised. “Now isn’t that an odd coincidence. I had no idea. Imagine, two copies of Tamerlane in Athena.”

“Yes, imagine that.” I found it interesting that she had made no further attempts to take the folder away from me. She remained near the fireplace and didn’t take her eyes off me.

I remembered Diesel and the cheese. I called out to him, and his head appeared from under the sofa. “Come here, boy,” I said. “You’ve had enough cheese.”

He meowed twice before he crawled from under the sofa and made his way to my side.

“That damn cat.” Anita threw Diesel an angry look. “He ought to stay at home, where he belongs.”

I didn’t bother to reply. I heard the door open. I turned to see Truesdale enter the room.

“Someone rang?” He paused a few feet away from me and glanced back and forth between me and Anita a couple times. Then he spotted the folder I held, and he frowned.

Anita ran to him with her arms open. “Oh, Nigel, it’s so awful. Charlie stole that thing, whatever it is, and now he’s going to try to tell people he found it in my bag. You can’t let him get away with that.”

I was so shocked I almost dropped the folder. “Don’t be ridiculous, Anita. When the FBI investigates, I’m sure they’ll find your fingerprints all over this.”

“FBI?” Truesdale put up his hands to ward Anita off. She stepped back, appearing confused. “What has the FBI got to do with anything?”

I watched Anita’s face as I replied. “They’re going to be investigating the thefts from Mr. Delacorte’s collection.” Anita paled and began to tremble.

Truesdale glanced at her. “What have you done, Anita?” The distaste in his voice was obvious.

“Nigel, honey, don’t look at me like that.” Anita smiled in what she probably thought was a coquettish fashion, but to me it simply looked like she had gas in her stomach. “I’m sure we can get this sorted out. After all, that belongs to you now.” She pointed to the folder. “Why don’t you just take it and put it back in the library, and we can forget all about this.”

“That’s utterly ridiculous,” I said. “Tamerlane isn’t the only thing you’ve stolen from the collection, and you know it.” I remembered the bracelet. “Where did your gentleman friend get the money to buy you that expensive piece of jewelry? Tell us that.”

Anita clutched at her wrist as if trying to hide the bracelet. Truesdale’s eyes narrowed as he regarded her. “So Mr. James was correct in thinking that items were missing from the collection.” He turned to me. “What has been stolen?”

“I think you’d better wait and speak to Deputy Berry about that.” I suddenly realized that if I started giving details about the missing books, Kanesha would probably be angry with me. She was the one running the investigation, and I had to be careful. “As a matter of fact, I think we need to call her right now.”

“That sounds like a very good idea.” Truesdale’s tone was grim. He strode over to a table near one of the bay windows and opened a box. He pulled out a telephone and punched in a number.

While he spoke with the sheriff’s department, I kept an eye on Anita. Diesel rubbed against my legs to remind me he was there, and I stroked his head a few times. Anita’s gaze swung back and forth between me and the door, and I feared she might try to run away. I moved a few feet closer to the door, and she glared at me.

“Deputy Berry is on her way here.” Truesdale came to stand by me, and we both watched Anita.

“Nigel, I can’t believe you’re acting this way. After all the nice things I’ve done for you, too.” Anita pouted. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have known what was in Mr.—”

“Quiet!”

Truesdale was so loud and fierce as he roared out that one word. Anita, Diesel, and I all jumped.

In a quieter but still firm tone, he continued, “I think you had better not say anything more until you have an attorney to represent you. You wouldn’t want to say anything that could get you into deeper trouble, would you?”

Anita stared at him and then nodded. She didn’t say a word.

Truesdale turned to me. “Why don’t you take that to the library and wait for the deputy there? I’ll keep watch over Miss Milhaus and ensure that she doesn’t run away.”

And give you a chance to talk privately, I added silently. How stupid did he think I was?

“No, I think I’ll wait here with you.” I smiled.

A voice spoke from behind us. “I’ll take over now. Ms. Berry’ll be here in five minutes.”

I was happy to see Deputy Bates. The situation might have turned ugly, because Truesdale might have challenged me over staying in the room.

I handed the deputy the archival folder, along with my handkerchief. “This was in Ms. Milhaus’s bag. It’s extremely valuable. Deputy Berry will be happy to know it’s been found.”

Bates held the handkerchief and folder gingerly, and he examined the contents. His expression revealed his skepticism about the value of the contents, but he simply nodded.

“Why don’t you folks sit down while we’re waiting? It won’t be long.” Bates gestured toward the sofas, and Anita moved to one and sat. Truesdale ignored the deputy’s suggestion and went to stand by the mantel instead.

I glanced past Bates to see Sean standing in the doorway. I motioned for him to come in as I moved farther back from where Bates stood guard. There was a seat in the bay window, and I headed for it.

Sean joined me there, and Diesel leaned against my legs.

“What’s going on?” Sean spoke in an undertone. “Bates got a call, and the next thing I knew, he was hustling me out and locking the door.”

I explained what had happened, and Sean said, “Whoa. You have got to be kidding me. Right there in her bag.”

I nodded, and Sean grinned. He leaned forward and scratched Diesel’s head. “Good for you, cat.”

Diesel chirped a couple of times, and I’d almost swear he smiled at Sean.

“What’s going on? What are all you people doing in here?”

Hubert Morris stood in the doorway, looking irritable. Then he spotted Anita on the couch. He glanced at his watch and frowned. “Anita, I thought you’d be on your way to Memphis now. You’re going to miss your plane.”

“Shut up, Hubie,” Anita hissed at him.

“Don’t tell me to shut up.” Hubert took several steps into the room but paused when Bates turned toward him.

“Why don’t you have a seat, Mr. Morris.” Bates gestured with one hand. “Deputy Berry will be here in a couple minutes, and I reckon she’ll want to talk to all of you.”

By now Hubert had spotted the archival folder Bates held, and it was obvious to me that Hubert recognized it—and its contents.

“Um, I’m really busy right now.” Hubert started backing up. “I’ve, uh, got to call the funeral home. Yeah, that’s right. I’ve got to make arrangements for my wife.” He turned to flee.

Hubert’s luck was out. Kanesha stepped into the room and blocked his exit.

“Going somewhere, Mr. Morris?” Her voice was cool. “If you don’t mind, I’d prefer you hang around until I find out what’s going on here.”

Hubert’s shoulders slumped, and he slunk over to the sofa opposite Anita and plunked himself down. Anita glared at him, but he stared at the floor.

“Bates, I’d like to speak to you for a minute.” Kanesha remained in the doorway, and Bates walked over to her. They conferred in low voices while the rest of us waited in an increasingly tense silence.

I thought back to what Anita said to Truesdale, when he cut her off and warned her about talking until she had a lawyer. What had she said exactly? If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have known what was in Mr.— That was when the butler interrupted her.

I was willing to bet that the final words of that sentence were “Delacorte’s will.”

Anita had told Truesdale about the contents of James Delacorte’s will. But how had she known? Then I remembered what Alexandra Pendergrast told me only a little while ago. Anita’s niece worked as a paralegal for Q. C. Pendergrast. Anita and her niece talked a lot on the phone.

Therefore the niece must have gossiped about James Delacorte’s will.

The full implications of the situation hit me then.

If Truesdale already knew he was James Delacorte’s chief heir, his fainting at the reading of the will was nothing but an act. He wanted everyone to think the inheritance was a complete surprise.

But if I was right about what Anita meant to say, then he clearly had a strong motive for murdering his longtime employer.

Truesdale had just moved to the head of the line of suspects in James Delacorte’s murder, as far as I was concerned.