Murder Most Persuasive

Chapter 27

It was Ann who woke me with the news. Roughly shaking me, she simply said, “The police just called. Julian’s dead. Murdered. Here’s your coffee.”

“Murdered? At the Ritz?” I asked sleepily, sitting up and taking the offered cup.

“Yes. He was poisoned.”

I was now fully awake. I stared blankly at the steaming cup. Who needs coffee when you have murder? “Don’t tell me,” I began.

She nodded. “Yup. Lily of the valley. Again.”

I rubbed my eyes in confusion. “But how?”

Ann sat down heavily on the bed next to me. “They don’t know,” she said, and then reconsidered. “Or if they do know, they’re not telling me.”

“How…”

“The hotel maid found him this morning.”

I looked around for the clock. “Wait, what time is it?” I asked.

“Twelve thirty. I let you sleep in.”

“God, I haven’t slept this long in ages.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve had a rough week,” Ann said kindly.

“Me? You’re the one who should be sleeping in.” I shook my head. “So Julian is really…?”

“Dead. Quite dead,” Ann said, with a hint of a smile. “Oh, except it turns out his name isn’t Julian St. Claire.”

“Imagine my astonishment,” I murmured. “What is … sorry, what was it?”

“Melvin Gibs and he was from Trenton, New Jersey, where he is wanted for six counts of larceny.”

“Oh, this just gets better and better.”

“I guess that depends on your definition of the word ‘better,’” Ann said with a sigh.

Word spread quickly about Julian’s (aka Melvin’s) death. By unanimous consent, it was decided that Bonnie not be told right away. According to Dr. Moser, she was resting comfortably and probably could receive visitors later today. “That’s only if,” he added somberly, “it’s okay with the police.”

Officer Daschle came by the house around one thirty to take additional statements from both Ann and me. His attitude toward us had decidedly chilled since yesterday. Of course, he hadn’t exactly been a fan before, but compared to how he glared at us as he took our statements, yesterday’s interview seemed almost chummy. Of course, it probably didn’t help Officer Daschle’s mood that Julian had practically screamed for police protection, been dismissed as a crackpot, and then turned up dead. Some days you just can’t catch a break, I guess.

“As you know,” said Officer Daschle, “Mr. St. Claire, as you knew him, was found dead this morning. Preliminary reports indicate that he died from the same kind of poisoning administered to Mrs. Reynolds.”

“Could he have drunk from her glass after all?” asked Ann.

Officer Daschle shook his head. “He would have already been ill by the time we arrived. No, it seems that Mr. St. Claire was poisoned later—after he left the hospital.”

“But why?” I asked.

Officer Daschle fixed his gaze on mine. “Well, that’s what we’d like to know as well, Miss Parker. I do remember Mr. St. Claire mentioning something about an investment?”

I turned to Ann. It was probably better if she explained it.

Ann took a deep breath. “Before my father died, he sold his property in St. Michaels. The proceeds were to be split among the three of us—Reggie, Frances, and me. For some reason, Bonnie thought it should be split four ways, with her being the fourth. Our father sold the property before he died, but he didn’t have a chance to distribute the proceeds. The split is not mentioned in the will. Anyway, when Bonnie got back from her spa retreat”—Ann tried to keep the disgust out of her voice when she said this—“she brought Julian back with her. She told us that he was some kind of ‘whiz investor’ and would be investing all the proceeds from the sale. There were some among us who objected to this arrangement.”

“Some?” said Officer Daschle.

“Okay, all,” Ann amended. “We were discussing it when she collapsed.”

“What exactly was said?” asked Officer Daschle.

“Nothing really. We just told her that we didn’t want her investing our share of the money with him. We didn’t think he was legit.”

“Well, you were right on that count. He was most certainly not legit.”

“But we didn’t poison him! Just like we didn’t poison Bonnie! None of this makes sense!” cried Ann, burying her face in her hands.

Officer Daschle was unmoved by Ann’s distress. “Do you know if Mrs. Reynolds had given Mr. St. Claire the money to invest yet?”

“No. For some reason, I thought that she hadn’t, but maybe that was just wishful thinking.”

Officer Daschle did not answer right away. He appeared to be caught in some kind of internal debate. “We were able to access Mr. St. Claire’s bank accounts,” he finally said. “It appears that your stepmother had not given him the money.”

“Oh,” said Ann. “Well, that’s good, I guess.”

“You had no idea of this?”

Ann shook her head. “No. I only knew what she told us, which was that she was planning on it.”

“Well, I suppose whoever killed Mr. St. Claire wanted to make sure that she didn’t get the chance. After the failed attempt on your stepmother, it appeared that the plan was to prevent her from continuing with her original plan,” said Officer Daschle. “I need to know your whereabouts last night.”

“I was here,” said Ann. “With Elizabeth,” she added.

I nodded. “After we left the hospital, everyone came back here and had a late supper. Everyone left around nine thirty, I guess,” I said. I didn’t see the point in revealing the part where we’d learned that Reggie had been lying all these years about ending things with Michael. I didn’t see how the two could be related.

“You said Julian was wanted for larceny. Could someone from his past have tracked him down and done this?” Ann asked hopefully.

“With the same poison that was used on your stepmother?” came the dubious reply. “That’s quite a coincidence, don’t you think?”

“I guess so,” agreed Ann.

“Well, that’s all I have for now.” Officer Daschle got up to leave. “Obviously, we’ll be in touch. I’d prefer it if neither of you went anywhere. I’m sure we’ll have more questions as we learn more.”

“Of course,” said Ann. “We’d be happy to do anything we can to help.”

From the cold expression in his dark eyes, it didn’t look like Officer Daschle believed her. I rather thought it was time to call Joe.

Joe arrived an hour and a half later. As soon as he appeared, I discreetly left. I don’t think either of them noticed.

I drove to the local Whole Foods, where I got an assortment of food and then brought it all back to Uncle Marty’s house. Ann and Joe were out back, so I slipped in unheard and unloaded the groceries. I left a note for Ann on the counter and then, after packing a small bag of gourmet goodies for myself, headed to Peter’s apartment. I let myself in with my key and, after putting the food and wine in the refrigerator, flopped on the couch and closed my eyes. Although I’d slept past noon, I was still exhausted.

Once again I tried to make sense of the events of the last few days. Bonnie had brought Julian back claiming that he was her soul mate and new investor. That had of course upset everyone, but apparently it had upset someone more than the rest of us and he or she had tried to poison Bonnie. Next Julian had been poisoned, this time successfully. Were both attacks because of the money? Had the poisoner hoped to prevent Bonnie from giving Julian the money? When it appeared that Bonnie was going to live, had the poisoner then killed Julian just so that Bonnie couldn’t go through with her plan? I knew that Ann had nothing to do with the attacks. But if money was the motive, that meant it had to be Reggie, Frances, or Scott. Reggie admitted to preparing the fatal drink but claimed to have merely made it and then placed it on the counter. Frances was in the kitchen when Reggie put the drink on the counter. Could Frances have poisoned it then? Frances and Scott needed the money to replace what they put into the business. Frances clearly had no problem stretching the truth—if not lying outright—if she thought it would help Scott. But would she go so far as to commit murder? Was she really capable of that?

My eyes grew heavy and my thoughts became fuzzy and disjointed. Reggie floated by in a wedding gown trimmed with lilies. She stood under an enormous arbor upon which wild animals twisted and curved in gaudy relief. Laura and Miles stood behind her. Laura was smiling at Reggie. Miles was laughing at the arbor. Frances and Scott stood to Reggie’s left. Upon further reflection, I saw that Frances was standing on Michael. Scott didn’t seem to notice. Bonnie walked past them, a glass of wine in her hands. She didn’t notice Michael either. I tried to cry out, but Peter kissed me and I woke up.

I blinked several times as Peter kissed me again. “Hey, sleepyhead, this is a nice surprise. I like coming home to you,” he said, nuzzling my neck.

I tried to sit up. “What time is it?” I asked upon waking for the second time that day.

Peter glanced at his watch. “Six thirty. I tried calling you on your cell, but it went to voice mail. I missed you.” He nuzzled my neck again.

I closed my eyes and gave in to Peter’s kisses. In a moment I’d have to ruin the mood by telling him about Julian, but for now it was a welcome escape. Sometime later (never mind how much later, thank you very much) I said, “I have some news.”

Peter caught the somber tone in my voice and groaned. “What now?”

“Julian’s dead. Murdered, actually. With the same poison that was used on Bonnie.”

Peter sat up in astonishment. “Are you kidding me? No, I can see from your face you’re not. Jesus Christ! And you’re just telling me now?”

“I got distracted.”

Peter smiled briefly. “When did it happen?”

“Last night, I guess. The hotel maid found him this morning.”

“Do the police have any idea who did it?”

“Not that I know of. They took Ann’s statement and mine this afternoon, but I haven’t heard anything else since then.”

“Well, you wouldn’t have. Your cell phone is going straight to voice mail. Is it dead?”

A nervous apprehension settled over me. I jumped up from the couch and grabbed my purse. As Peter said, my phone was indeed dead. I quickly unearthed my charger and plugged it into the nearest outlet. As the phone chirped to life, I saw that I had missed several calls. Four were from Peter. Two were from Ann. The first was to thank me for the food. The second was to tell me that Scott had been arrested for the murder of Julian and the attempted murder of Bonnie.