Deadly Diamond

“There are no ordinary cats.”

––Colette

CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Talkative Elderly

Alyx, Maggie, and I sat in the lobby of the police station, waiting for Smarts, and when he appeared, he was so pleasant I almost forgot I didn’t like him.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting; I had a report to finish that was due to the division chief today. So what can I do for you?”

“As you know,” Alyx began, “Althea Burns’s niece asked Antiques & Designs to conduct an estate sale of her things. Maggie and I went over there to prepare for the sale and found this letter among her personal items.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. “I didn’t want to be arrested for removing evidence, so I took a picture of the letter.”

She handed him the phone and asked, “Do you think her son might have been involved in her death?”

Smarts’ face registered as much surprise as did Maggie’s. His eyebrows shot up at the question, “There’s nothing pointing to him as a suspect. Do you know something we don’t?”

“Only this––there was no evidence that Althea had ever had a child and she never mentioned it to me or Maggie. According to that letter, it sounds like she’s reluctant to even acknowledge her son’s existence, let alone see him.”

“Yes, so?”

“Maybe he went to see her and for whatever reason, she didn’t believe him.”

“And you think he killed her,” he finished.

“Well, stranger things have happened.”

“Thanks for the information. If there’s anything else, Ms. Hille, I know where to reach you.”

He started to walk away and turned back. “By the way, we found Mark Merkley’s DNA on the gum.”

“I knew you would. What puzzles me is how did he know he’d find the correct size and shape diamond he needed?”

“Mr. Hall told us that the elderly customer who sold him the diamond had applied and been denied a loan at the bank where Merkley worked. We spoke to her, and she didn’t remember telling anyone at the bank about the diamond she’d sold. However, another employee saw her sitting at Merkley’s desk the day she made the deposit, so it’s possible that he got all the information he needed.”

“Sadly, there’s always someone ready to take advantage of the talkative elderly who are ready to divulge personal information to complete strangers just for the pleasure of the exchange,” said Maggie. “What I don’t understand is why he didn’t come back to get his diamond after going through the trouble of stealing it.”

“His girlfriend said that to the best of her knowledge, he’d never done anything like that before, insisting he wasn’t a criminal and blamed herself for what happened.”

“Why did she blame herself?”

“She told him she didn’t want to get married until they could afford the down payment on a house. She jokingly suggested going to Biloxi, to seek their down payment. He did, and discovered his weakness for gambling.”

On the way back to the store, Alyx asked Maggie if what she’d said about Althea’s son made sense to her.

“Oh, Alyx, you know I don’t have those kinds of instincts,” she answered.

Alyx persisted, “Well, doesn’t it make sense?”

“Yes, it does. So did the idea that Mark Merkley killed her, but that didn’t happen.”

They didn’t have much to say to each other after that. We pulled up in the parking lot behind the store and went inside. Maggie saw that there were several customers waiting for assistance and both Alyx and Maggie pitched in. When the mini-rush ended, Alyx went back to the workroom.

Liza Sherman, a neighbor and regular customer poked her head in the door, “Hi, Alyx, got a minute?”

Liza, also known as the Queen of Volunteers, because she was president or vice-president of every volunteer committee in the community, could gather a force of volunteers with a snap of her fingers.

“Sure, come on in. Today’s the big game for the soccer team, isn’t it?”

“It is, but Lindsey won’t be playing.”

“Why, what happened? She was so excited about it the other day.”

“She found out the playing field sits on top of a used-to-be cemetery.”

“Is that true?”

“It’s true all right. The City Commission decided to remember the nameless dead buried there by putting up a plaque at the entrance to the park. The kids would have probably not noticed it; but the adults did and started talking about it. When Lindsey heard, she announced that she wasn’t going to play on top of dead people, and that was that.”

“I can’t say that I blame her,” said Alyx, commiserating.

“Yeah, I don’t either. I didn’t try real hard to change her mind.”

“How did the whole cemetery thing come about?”

“I guess the City learned about its existence some years back, and by that time, the cemetery was overgrown, there was nothing left to identify the graves and no known relatives. Since there were no laws back then about cemeteries, the City turned it into a park. A few months ago, area historians and the local cemetery preservationists brought it up to the commissioners and they decided on a plaque.”

“I wonder how many more abandoned cemeteries have been built on,” mused Alyx.

“I read an article,” said Liza, “that said there are currently five cemeteries in the county not being maintained and may disappear. In fact, one of them is a couple of miles from here, beach side.”

“I’ve heard it called the Rich and Poor Cemetery and the Saints and Sinners Cemetery,” said Alyx.

“Why did they call it that?”

“The first one is self-explanatory and for the Saints and Sinners, I’ve heard it said that the church members were buried in one section and non-members in another and you can guess which was which,” Alyx explained.

“Isn’t it funny how we never think about some things, like cemeteries, until something happens. There’s all this information that comes out, and then we forget all about it again.”

That simple fact of life underscored, they switched the subject to redecorating around Liza’s pool.

Alyx and Maggie had met while taking classes at the local community college. Maggie had no living family. Alyx had brothers and sisters, but her family had drifted apart after her mother’s death, and no one was closer to her than Maggie was, but that didn’t mean that they never argued or disagreed.

“Have you heard from David since you put your relationship on hold?” Maggie asked.

“Yes, he called and asked me to meet him for lunch. I said no at first, and then talking to him made me realize how well he filled a void I didn’t know existed until recently.”

“So did you meet him?” Maggie kept prodding.

“I did and I’m not sure I should have. It complicates things even more.”

“Sometimes emotions overtake logic and, let’s face it; relationships can get difficult.”

“We had lunch at The Pier, on the south edge of Beachside. It’s been a while since I was in that area and with a new subdivision going up––a strip shopping center and a business park––I almost didn’t find the restaurant. It was small, intimate and dark with only two other couples seated. I wanted to leave, hesitated, and then it was too late. My eyes adjusted to the dark and I saw David, thankful that he wasn’t sitting in a booth. He waited for me to approach, pulled out my chair, and took a seat across the table. He said he wanted one more chance at convincing me not to stop seeing him.”

“And?”

Alyx looked away, and when she spoke, it sounded as if she was talking to herself. “This feeling has been there from the beginning and has grown over the months we’ve known each other. What are the chances it will happen again? Except … I don’t want to share him; I want him completely free––no attachments, all or nothing.”

“Okay, so what are you saying? Have you changed your mind about seeing him?” Maggie was trying to help Alyx make up her obviously conflicted mind.

“I told him I’d consider it,” she snapped. “I know your feelings on the subject, so you needn’t tell me again.”

“I wasn’t going to do that. You’re a big girl and more than capable of messing up your own life.” Maggie yanked her purse from the desk, said she had an errand to run and didn’t know when she’d be back.

Bernice came in a few minutes later with a message from Maggie.

“Maggie said she forgot to tell you that Annie Kron called about the chair that was delivered today and you need to call her back.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“She said to be sure to tell you she’s not mad at you for snapping at her and she’ll see you tomorrow.”