Murder Most Persuasive

Chapter 5

“So she’s just going to leave? Now?” asked Kit in amused disbelief.

“It would appear so,” said Ann, her face resigned. “Although, when I stop to think about it, I can’t say that I’m surprised. Sensitivity isn’t exactly Bonnie’s strongest quality. But I’m fine. Actually, it will be easier if she’s not here. There’s so much I have to do before I can go back to my own place.”

“What do you need to do? Can I help with anything?” I asked.

“That would be great, thanks. I’ve got to sort through Father’s papers, catalog everything, and then distribute the various items that he left in his will. There’s an oil painting upstairs that Frances was always fond of. I know Father wanted her to have that. There are also a few china figurines that were set aside for Reggie.” She paused as Scarlett jumped at her knees. “And, of course, I’ve got to take care of Scarlett here.” Her lip sneered ever so slightly as she said this. Not that I blamed her. Scarlett is a pint-sized diva.

“Speaking of Reggie,” said Kit, “I gather you haven’t told her yet.”

Ann shook her head. “No. I’ll have to, and soon, but I don’t seem to have the mental capacity tonight to figure out exactly what I’m going to say.”

“How do you think she’ll take it?” Kit asked with ghoulish interest.

Ann’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “She’ll be upset, of course. To what extent, I can’t say.”

“Well, obviously!” Kit gushed. “No, what I mean is, why exactly did Reggie break it off? I could never figure that out. At that point, Michael was still Mr. Perfect. No one knew about the embezzling yet. Uncle Marty loved him—I mean, wasn’t he grooming Michael to take over the business?”

Ann nodded, almost as if the movement caused her pain. “I believe he was, yes,” she replied in a near whisper.

“And you all loved him, right?” Kit asked.

Only a fool couldn’t see that this was a subject that Ann didn’t want to discuss, but Kit nevertheless pressed ahead with her investigation. As horrible as it may sound, I have to admit that sometimes I wished that my mom would come to me and tell me that Kit wasn’t really my sister, that she found her in a wicker basket on the front porch. Hell, I’d even be okay if my mom told me that I was the result of a sordid affair. Even then, we’d only be half sisters, and I could soothe myself with the knowledge that we were not produced by the same gene pool.

“It was after Michael’s disappearance that Uncle Marty turned to Scott as a successor, wasn’t it?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Yes,” said Ann. “Frances had always wanted Scott to take over the business anyway. She felt that since he’d been in the family and at the company longest, it was only fair. I don’t think Scott cared as much about it as she did.”

“Well, she’s always been the more intense of the two about Scott’s career,” I said.

“So, why do you think that Reggie broke it off?” Kit interrupted, reverting back to her line of questioning.

“She didn’t think it would work,” Ann replied. “She didn’t go into the details with me.”

“Do you think she was still in love with him? I mean, sometimes couples get into fights and say things they don’t mean, especially right before their wedding. It can get pretty stressful. I know Paul and I had a couple of doozies.”

“I don’t know anything about that. All Reggie said was that she told Michael she didn’t want to marry him. She seemed pretty certain about it.”

“Right.” Kit nodded her head as if this proved her point. “But Michael disappeared right after that. I just wondered if she regretted her decision.”

“I don’t think so,” said Ann. “After all, it was right after he disappeared that Father discovered that the money was missing.”

“Do you think Reggie could have known about the money?” asked Kit, her voice a conspiring whisper. “Do you think that’s why she broke it off?”

While Ann’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, my patience snapped. “Kit! Of course Reggie didn’t know that Michael was embezzling from Uncle Marty! Use your head. She would have said something!”

Kit swung to face me, her eyes narrowed in anger. I knew I’d pay for my outburst later, but right now I didn’t care. She was making the situation worse. Granted it was unintentional, but nevertheless I had to get her to stop.

“I’m only asking a question,” she retorted. “I wasn’t implying anything and, besides, I imagine that it’s a question that the police are going to ask as well.”

“You are not the police,” I said through clenched teeth.

Kit gave a shrill laugh. “Oh, I get it. You think you’re the only one in this family who can ask questions about a murder?”

I took a deep breath. “No, Kit. That’s not what I’m saying. The police don’t know Reggie, but we do! Can you really see her not telling Uncle Marty if she knew Michael had embezzled the money?”

Kit shrugged. “I’m not saying she knew. All I’m saying is that love can do funny things to people sometimes.”

Mercifully, her cell phone rang just then, putting an end to the conversation, at least for now.

“Paul?” Kit said into the receiver. “What’s the problem? Well, I can’t right now. I’m busy.” Holding one finger up to us as a signal to wait, she shifted her body away from us. “Paul, it’s not that hard. Just get him some of his trains, that’ll settle him down. What? They’re downstairs in the bin.” Pause. “No, the other bin. I don’t know! Get him Thomas, Gordon, and Percy. No, Gordon is the long blue one; Henry is the green one. No, that’s James. For goodness’ sake, Paul, it’s not that difficult!” Long pause. “All right. Fine. Uh-huh. Okay. I’ll be there soon. Bye.” With an irritated click, she snapped the cell phone shut. Turning back to us, she said, “I have to go. Pauly’s not feeling well. Ann, I’m really sorry about all of this. Please let me know what I can do. I mean it.”

“Thanks, Kit, but I’ll be fine.”

“Well, the least I can do is bring over some dinners for you. You’ve got enough to worry about without adding cooking into the mix.” With a smile she added, “No pun intended.”

I suddenly felt like a jerk. Kit meant well, she really did. She was just one of those annoying souls who always manage to put a foot in it.

Ann nodded. “That would be great, Kit. Thanks. I really appreciate your coming over tonight. It’s nice to know you guys are here for me when I need you.”

“Of course we are!” replied Kit. “You should know that by now! That’s what family is for!” Giving Ann a big hug, she turned to me. “Are you ready?”

With a fair amount of dread, I said, “Oh, uh, actually, I’m going to stay here tonight. I brought a change of clothes. I’ll leave for work from here in the morning. I thought I’d help Ann tonight.”

Kit looked like I’d slapped her, and for a second I saw a hurt little girl in front of me. I felt horrible. Kit had always had a hard time making friends. Kit didn’t try to help people because they needed her help. Kit tried to help people so she could feel better about herself. When her offers of help were refused—even politely refused—Kit took it as a personal affront.

“Kit…” I began.

“Nope, it’s fine. I’ll just see you tomorrow,” she said with artificial briskness, but I heard the catch in her voice. My heart sank.

“Kit—”

She cut me off. “I’ll be sure to bring over some meals tomorrow, Ann,” she said. “Lord knows, if you let Elizabeth do the cooking, all you’ll end up eating is spaghetti!” Still laughing at her little joke, she left.

I sighed. Same old Kit.

Ann turned to me. “Would you like some tea?”

“If by ‘tea’ you mean Chardonnay, then yes,” I said, following her to the kitchen. Scarlett scampered along beside me. Located in the back of the house, the kitchen was a large modern room with stainless-steel appliances, white cabinets, and white marble countertops. During the day, the back windows provided a view of the landscaped backyard and pool below.

I sat on one of the yellow cushioned stools at the counter, while Ann pulled out a chilled bottle from the refrigerator. Scarlett settled at my feet.

“How are you really?” I asked.

“About how you’d expect,” she replied, getting down two glasses from the cabinet. “You know what my feelings about Michael were, but to know that he’s dead, and not only dead but dead and buried under the pool we all swam in…” She broke off with a low moan of disgust and covered her mouth with her hand.

“You can’t think about it like that,” I said briskly, getting up and easing her into my chair. “You’ll only make yourself sick. None of you knew that then.”

Her head in her hands, she said, “Someone knew.”

Fitting the corkscrew over the neck of the bottle, I pushed down the lever and pulled out the cork. Pouring us each a glass, I slid Ann’s across the counter to her.

Cradling the glass in her hands, her head low, she said, “Thanks, Elizabeth. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, it’s a fair comment. You’re right. Someone did know.”

Ann raised her head, her gaze direct. “I’m scared. Michael wasn’t a nice man. He hurt a lot of people. He hurt people in my family.”

I nodded. I didn’t say what we were both thinking, that Michael had also hurt Ann. As I remembered the detail, my hands gripped my glass with unnecessary strength. Out of precaution, I put it down.

“Ann?” I asked. “When did the pool go in?”

“Eight years ago last July. Two months before what would have been Michael and Reggie’s wedding. They were going to have the reception at the house and Reggie wanted a pool. Not to swim in, of course. She just wanted to float candles and flowers in the water. She thought it would look pretty.”

“She always was a mini-Martha, wasn’t she?” I said with a laugh.

Ann nodded in agreement. “That she was. And of course, Dad denied her nothing. He absolutely doted on her. She was so much like him.” She took a sip of wine. “Anyway, the pool went in right around the time that Reggie broke it off with Michael. Right around the time he disappeared.” She paused. “Obviously.”

“That was right after your dad’s Fourth of July party, right?”

Ann closed her eyes and nodded. “Yup, right after that horrible night.”

I took a sip of my wine, unsure if I should continue. “Ann?” She looked up. I took a deep breath. “Did you ever tell anybody what happened at the party?”

Ann gave a rueful twist of her mouth. “You mean, did I ever tell anybody that Michael tried to rape me?”

I nodded.

“No.” She stared at the glass in her hands. “No. I never did. You’re the only one who knows. I don’t know why I never said anything.” She put the glass down and twisted a lock of hair around her finger and continued. “Maybe it was because right after that, Reggie said she’d ended things with him. God, I was so relieved when she told me that. I honestly don’t know if she would have believed me if I had told her. Then Dad discovered that the money was gone and that Michael took it.”

“And then Michael was gone,” I added.

She nodded. “And then Michael was gone. Except now it appears that he wasn’t. Not in the way we all thought, anyway.” Propping her elbows on the counter, she rested her head in her hands. “What are the police going to think when they hear all this?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

Neither of us said anything else, drinking our wine in silence. After a few minutes, however, I said, “Ann?”

“Hmmm?”

“If Michael’s dead, what happened to the money?”