Fixing To Die

CHAPTER 22

“That’s interesting, don’t you think, Dickce?” An’gel shot a pointed glance at her sister. She knew she had been right about the sexual component of the men’s relationship.

Dickce nodded. “How long had your cousin and Mr. Wilbanks been together?”

“Going on ten years, at least,” Mary Turner said. “Mind you, it was a pretty volatile relationship from what I saw of it. Truss lives here in Natchez, and Nathan lived in Vicksburg, although they were always going back and forth, I think.”

“Were Mr. Wilbanks and your cousin in business together?” An’gel asked.

“Yes, Truss handled the legal side of Nathan’s real estate business, but he also has other clients,” Mary Turner said.

“Like Mrs. Foster,” Dickce said.

Mary Turner nodded. “Actually, I think Truss started out as their father’s lawyer. He’s been involved with the family since not long after he finished law school. That was about twenty years ago, I think. He’s ten years older than me.” She paused a moment. “If you don’t mind my asking, why are y’all so interested in this? Is it because you think Nathan’s death wasn’t natural?”

“We think it’s possible that it wasn’t,” An’gel said. “We don’t want to alarm you, but you have to be prepared for that possibility. If it turns out that he didn’t die naturally, then the police will want to know who killed him.”

“And people will think it’s me or Henry Howard,” Mary Turner said. “Serenity will keep pointing the finger at me because she thinks I’ve always hated her and Nathan. All because of the contents of that stupid room.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I wish my father or my grandfather had given the Gambles all that stuff and been done with it.”

“You could have done it yourself after you inherited it,” An’gel said. “Couldn’t you?”

“Yes, I suppose so.” Mary Turner sighed. “Although I know my father wouldn’t like it. He thought it should stay in our family. If Nathan hadn’t been such a gadfly about it, I might have decided to let him have it, despite the loss it would mean for Henry Howard and me. But Nathan was so annoying.”

“What about his sister? Would you give it to her?” Dickce asked.

“Never,” Mary Turner said. “She’s always been hateful and spiteful, and I’ll burn the stuff before I let her get her hands on it.” She laughed, and to An’gel, it was a bitter sound. “I know that sounds terrible, but that’s the way it is. I never hated Nathan, despite how irritating he was. Serenity has never done a good thing for anyone in her life, always acting like she was too good to work for a living like the rest of us.”

“She has certainly not impressed me,” An’gel said. “While I feel sorry for her over her brother’s death, I don’t think I could ever like her or want to spend time around her.”

“I’m glad you told us about Nathan’s relationship with Mr. Wilbanks,” Dickce said. “Frankly, at first I thought he and Serenity were involved.”

Mary Turner appeared amused at the thought. “I think Serenity would like them to be more than friends, but I’m not sure Truss sees it that way. Truss really has put up with a lot for that family.”

“Presumably he’s been well paid for his legal work,” An’gel said.

“Possibly,” Mary Turner said. “Nathan wasn’t known for being generous about anything much, except giving to his church maybe. I know he helped them buy a new organ. But he had trouble keeping employees in his real estate business. They were always leaving because of low pay. A friend of mine from high school whose husband took a job in Vicksburg worked for him for about a year. That was as long as she could stand it. What he paid didn’t cover the cost of child care, according to her.”

“Do you believe Nathan was well off? Did he have a significant estate to leave to someone?” An’gel asked.

“I don’t know for sure,” Mary Turner said. “I would think he was worth a good bit, though. He bought property in other states where the economy was better, particularly in Texas. I heard him mention properties in Dallas and Houston, for example. He went around looking like he could barely afford to buy clothes and he drove a twenty-year-old car, but that was just him.”

“Sounds to me, then, that he might have been worth killing,” Dickce said.

“When you put it like that,” Mary Turner said slowly, “I suppose he was. Serenity and Truss would benefit the most, in that case, unless Nathan didn’t leave them anything.” She thought a moment. “But Nathan was big on family and family history; otherwise he wouldn’t have been so obsessed with the French room. I can’t imagine he would cut his sister off completely.”

“This is putting you on the spot, really,” An’gel said, “but if you had to point the finger at either Serenity or Truss, which one would you point to?”

“That’s a hard question. My first instinct is to say Serenity, but that may be because I loathe her so much.” Mary Turner shrugged. “I actually sort of like Truss. He’s really not so bad, but he does love money. Could be either one of them, or they might have been in it together.”

“That’s an interesting thought,” An’gel said. “They were both angry with him certainly.”

“I didn’t realize Truss was angry with Nathan,” Mary Turner said. “Why do you say that?”

An’gel told her what she had seen, minus the vulgar language. Mary Turner looked stunned. “Miss An’gel, I’m so sorry you had to see that. How nasty.”

“It was unpleasant,” An’gel said, “but I’ve lived a long time, my dear. I’ve seen far worse.”

“Wait till I tell Henry Howard about this.” Mary Turner’s face clouded. “If he ever comes back, that is.” She pulled out her cell phone. “Still no response from him.”

“Don’t let yourself get worked up again, my dear,” An’gel said. “He’ll turn up soon, I’m sure. By now he will have walked off his frustrations and be on his way home.”

“Bound to,” Dickce said.

“I sure hope so.” Mary Turner started to rise. “I really should go talk to Marcelline. I was pretty rough with her.”

An’gel privately thought that a little rough talk would do Marcelline good. The housekeeper had been unpleasant to Henry Howard and shouldn’t be interfering in her employers’ marriage. She had behaved like a mother-in-law instead of a housekeeper.

“Don’t go just yet,” An’gel said. “I have something else I want to ask you about. It won’t take long, I promise.”

Mary Turner resumed her seat promptly, and An’gel guessed she wasn’t eager to confront Marcelline again.

“What is that?” Mary Turner asked.

“It’s about Primrose Pace,” An’gel said. “Did she tell you anything at all about her background? Give you any references?”

“References? No, she didn’t, but then I didn’t ask.” Mary Turner frowned. “I probably should have, shouldn’t I? I was so excited by the idea of having an experienced medium in the house, I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“About her background,” An’gel said. “Did she tell you anything?”

“I did ask about that,” Mary Turner said. “She told me that she had been involved in solving several missing persons cases. She even pulled out a couple of newspaper clippings to show me. I didn’t take time to read every word, but it was pretty obvious she has some kind of ability with spirits.”

“What did she tell you about those cases?” Dickce asked. “Did she offer you any details besides what was in the clippings?”

“Let me think about that for a moment,” Mary Turner said.

An’gel and Dickce waited semi-patiently while Mary Turner thought. They were both curious about Primrose Pace, although at this point they couldn’t see a connection between her and Nathan Gamble that would give her a motive in his murder.

“She said she was from Louisiana,” Mary Turner said. “I remember that. Oh, and she also said she was in Natchez visiting a friend. She happened to be driving around looking at old houses, and when she drove into the driveway near the house, she started getting a strong feeling about it. She sat in her car for a few minutes and concentrated, and that’s when she realized there was a spirit here that wanted someone it could talk to.”

Given the stories about ghosts and antebellum homes and other places in Natchez, An’gel reckoned, Primrose Pace might have simply taken a chance that she could get a few nights’ stay and some free meals in turn for her so-called services at Cliffwood. If Mary Turner had looked blankly at her and told her there had never been any supernatural activity at Cliffwood, the medium could have made her excuses and been on her way. Instead, Mary Turner had basically welcomed her with open arms.

“This isn’t our business, and you can certainly tell us so without hurting our feelings,” An’gel said. “Did Mrs. Pace mention a fee for her services?”

Mary Turner said, “Heavens, Miss An’gel, I don’t mind you asking about that. I know Granny and Daddy trusted you and Miss Dickce, and I certainly do. Otherwise I wouldn’t have begged you to come and help. In addition to her stay here and her meals, Mrs. Pace asked for five hundred dollars for five days’ stay while she worked with the spirit.”

An’gel had no experience with psychics, but five hundred dollars, plus room and board, sounded pretty low to her for what some would consider professional services. She would ask Benjy to research how much psychics charged for their services. Primrose Pace’s request made her think the woman was more a scam artist than an actual psychic. She probably thought she could get away with it more easily if she didn’t ask for a large fee.

“Do you think I shouldn’t have let her stay?” Mary Turner asked. “From your expression, I’ll bet you’re thinking I made a mistake in doing so.”

“Perhaps,” An’gel said. “I’m skeptical, frankly, about Mrs. Pace and her psychic abilities. We asked Benjy to see what he could find about her online. She might be who she says she is and be a known psychic. She could also be a con artist who goes around looking for—” She cut herself off when she realized what she had been about to say.

“Looking for gullible victims. That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?” Mary Turner didn’t sound upset. “I know I’m a little too trusting sometimes, especially with people I don’t know. I take everyone at face value, and to me, Mrs. Pace seemed sincere.”

“I’m sorry,” An’gel said. “Yes, that’s what I was about to say, more or less. I would be happy were Mrs. Pace to prove me wrong. If there really is a spirit lingering here, and she can communicate with it and help it find peace, then all the better. The important thing to me and Sister, of course, is your happiness. If her being here makes you feel better, then Mrs. Pace’s services are worth the price.”

An’gel could tell by Dickce’s expression that she might have been laying it on a bit too thick, but she only wanted to reassure Mary Turner. The poor child had too much on her plate as it was, without An’gel and Dickce worrying her over Mrs. Pace’s bona fides.

Mary Turner appeared to accept her words at face value, An’gel was relieved to see. She would be more careful in what she said about Mrs. Pace in front of Mary Turner from now on, until she had proof positive the woman was a fake.

An’gel heard a bell tinkle somewhere in the room, and the sound startled her. Mary Turner, however, appeared delighted. She pulled out her phone and examined it eagerly.

“It’s Henry Howard,” she said as she jumped up from her seat on the trunk. “He’s home, and he’s downstairs.” Then her face clouded over. “He says Lieutenant Steinberg is on his way here, and he thinks it’s bad news of some kind.”