Murder by Yew (23 page)

“
Police. Everybody freeze.” An echo of Mary’s command came from somewhere beyond the fireplace, as Charlie Rogers burst through the door, gun in hand, followed closely by Peggy King. Bringing up the rear were two uniformed officers, one of whom was holding onto Shoes.

“
We’ve got it, Mary,” Charlie said, reaching to take the gun from her rigid hands.

Peggy helped Dee to her feet while the larger of the policemen pulled Hank off Zach, got the man out of the chair, and cuffed his hands behind his back. Dee howled in pain when Peggy tried the same with her.

“
She broke my wrist,” Dee howled.

Behind her prisoner’s back, Peggy gave Edna a wink and a smile.

Edna laughed, feeling giddy with relief that help had arrived. “Who called the cavalry?” she said from the hearth where she had retreated with Danny. The warmth from the embers felt wonderful on the backs of her legs.

Charlie came to stand in front of her, briefly glancing down at Danny before he spoke. “Actually, we got a radio call that Zach Linden was headed this way. One of our officers spotted his car turning into this place and called it in but then had to respond to an emergency down the road. When Peggy and I got here and saw Mary’s Jeep, we didn’t know what was going on, so we called for backup. By the time we moved in closer, that one,” he said gesturing toward Shoes, “was opening one of the garage doors.” He chuckled. “Imagine my surprise when I saw your car in the same garage. Led to some interesting questions.” His good humor turned to a scowl as he barked, “Get ‘em out of here.”

Once the officers had removed the prisoners, Charlie hunkered down in front of Danny, who was holding tightly to Edna’s thigh. “Well, young man, would you like to go home?”

Danny looked at the detective with wide eyes before nodding, but he didn’t release his hold on Edna’s leg.

“
I’ll take him back to his mother,” Mary volunteered. “Hank and I will take him home.”

“
That’s a good idea.” Charlie sounded weary. “I’ll drive Edna back in her car, but first we’ll follow you, make sure you get there safely.”

Unwinding his arm from her leg, Danny looked up at Edna as he slid his hand into hers. “Mif Davy tak’ me ‘ome,” he said, looking at her questioningly.

Knowing that Nancy needed to hear the story from someone else first, Edna leaned down. Taking the boy’s face in her two hands, she kissed his cheek. “You go with Mary, now. I’ll come visit you very soon.”

Twenty-Three

On the way home, Edna explained to Charlie what she had learned about Dee Tolkheim.

“
So all this time, Danny was trying to say ‘Daisy.’” Charlie shook his head, then laughed aloud. “And you’ve cracked the burglary case, too.” He looked over at her, his eyes twinkling.

She smiled at him before leaning her head against the back of the seat. “It’s been quite an adventure, Detective, but I think I’ll leave the police work to you from now on.”

He chuckled and drove the rest of the way in silence, probably realizing how exhausted she was. When they reached Edna’s house, the police cruiser he’d called for was waiting to take him to the station. First, though, he walked her to the door, promising to stop by and check on her after his debriefing at the department.

Weary, but too keyed up even to nap, Edna took a hot shower and changed into a warm sweater and slacks. In the kitchen, she put the kettle on to boil, noticing as she did so that the rain had stopped. The ground was saturated, and water dripped off tree branches, but the sky was clearing.

She was pouring hot water into the china pot over her own blend of chamomile and lemon balm when she heard a knock at the back door. She hurried through the mudroom and opened the door to see it was Mary.

“
Hello,” Mary responded to Edna’s greeting, entering the room in a swirl of camouflage rain cape with Hank at her heels. Edna looked at the dog, then up at Mary in surprise, but before she could ask, Mary said, “He’s staying with me for now, maybe forever.” She was smiling broadly as she bent to stroke the Lab’s head. At that moment, Benjamin appeared from behind Edna, and the two animals briefly touched noses before the cat turned and strolled nonchalantly back toward the kitchen.

“
Come in and warm yourself,” Edna said, holding out a hand for Mary’s cape. “I’ve just made a fresh pot of tea.”

“
From a recipe of old Mrs. Rabichek’s, I hope.” Mary grinned as she passed her wrap over so Edna could hang it on one of the wooden pegs beside the back door.

Seated at the kitchen table with filled tea mugs warming their hands, the two women fell silent. Edna thought it was enough to relax in Mary’s company. At the moment, she felt no need to rehash the day’s event. After several minutes, she took one last sip and set her cup down before asking, “You don’t think Nancy will eventually want Hank back for Danny?”

Mary shook her head as she put her own cup on the table. “No, I doubt it. It’s strange.” She paused briefly, as if trying to find the words to explain. “I think Hank makes Danny feel closer to Tom, but it makes Nancy cry to see the dog wandering around the house in search of his master.” Tears glistened in Mary’s own eyes.

With a voice that was unsteady at first, she went on. “I’m like Danny. Hank makes me feel close to Tom somehow.” Her smile was sad as she looked at Edna. “When my father died, Tom promised he’d always be around to look in on me.” She gulped and said with a half-sob, half-laugh, “Pretty silly thing to promise, isn’t it?”

Edna remembered Mary’s outburst at the restaurant just as their waiter had arrived. So that had been Tom’s promise, not of marriage, as Edna had suspected at the time, but a pact of friendship. “I think he’d be pleased to know that you and Hank are looking after each other,” she said in a quiet tone.

As if hearing his name once too often, the black Lab, who had been lying on the floor near Mary’s chair, stood and nudged his mistress’s elbow with his nose. Wagging his tail and backing up, he bobbed his head as if to say, “Come on. Cheer up, and let’s go for a walk.”

The women laughed, and Mary swiped the tears from beneath her eyes with the knuckle of a finger. “We’d better go. I hadn’t planned on staying this long. We just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Edna watched the tall redhead and the stocky black dog head for home before closing the door and returning to the kitchen. She was considering whether or not to pour herself another cup of tea when, from the window over the sink, she saw Charlie Rogers drive up. Inviting him in, she fetched another cup and set a plate of homemade cookies on the table between them.

“
Shoes is singing like a canary, as they say in the movies,” Charlie said, after filling her in on the details of the arrests. “My guess is that Joel Tolkheim’s son will request an exhumation and autopsy when he learns about Dee’s arrest for murder. If it turns out that she killed her husband, too, it won’t diminish Junior’s grief, but at least the widow won’t be able to use the inheritance to pay for her lawyers.”

Setting her cup down, Edna said, “And will you look for Bobby O’Brien? He was Dee’s first husband, you know. There might be a forty-year-old unsolved death in Albuquerque as well, or else there’s a mighty fine mechanic working somewhere in Arizona. If he’s alive, I think he’ll want to know what’s happened.”

Charlie made a note on the small pad he’d pulled from his jacket pocket.

“
She used yew to kill Tom, you know,” Edna said in a low voice, still trying to fathom what would drive a person to such evil.

“
I know. We found bits of it in your canister. I had the lab compare what was in the tin with the sample I’d taken last Friday. They were different. The mix in the canisters contained ground up bits of evergreen needles and bark the lab boys identified as coming from a yew tree. I thought something was awfully fishy about your break-in Sunday night. Someone wanted you dead, too, and now we know who.”

Edna shivered at the thought. “Dee confessed everything to me about Tom, Bobby, the robberies, but it was Shoes who told me about Dee and him being here on Sunday. She probably knew he wouldn’t help her get into my house if she wanted to poison me.” She shuddered at the idea she might have unwittingly brewed someone a poisoned cup of tea—or had one herself. “It’s a very good thing you took those canisters, Charlie,” she said, feeling thankful indeed. “Will there be a trial? Will I have to testify?”

“
Don’t worry about it right now. I’ll let you know. Oh, by the way,” he said, putting the notebook and pen back into his pocket, “we found Tom’s appointment book in Dee’s house in a bookcase. Her name was penned in for Thursday afternoon, just as you suspected.” He drank the last of his tea in one quick gulp and pushed himself up from the table. “I’d better get back to work.”

“
Work? I thought you were done for the day. Aren’t you going home?” She walked him to the door.

“
Naw, too much paperwork left to do. I want to get a head start on it tonight.”

Edna saw her chance. “What about your family? Doesn’t your wife object to your working such long hours?” Starling, you owe me for this, she thought, smiling at Charlie.

“
She probably would, if I had one.” He stepped out onto the granite stoop and half turned, hesitating before looking into her eyes. His grin was boyish, almost shy. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to give your daughter a call sometime.”

“
It would be fine with me, and I have a feeling she’d like that, too.” Edna waved in response to his upraised hand. As she closed the door on the detective’s retreating back, the phone rang. It was Albert.

“
Sweetheart, I’m so glad you’re home. Listen, Honey, could you come to Colorado right away? Karissa’s in the hospital, Grant’s in the middle of what he calls a software conversion, whatever that is, and someone’s got to take care of Jillybean. Is there any chance you could get a bus out tonight?”

Edna’s head reeled at the unexpected request. “What’s the matter with Karissa?”

“
She may lose the baby. At this point, we’re afraid we might lose her, too. Sweetheart, I’ve missed you so much. Will you come?”

Her heart warmed with his words, but at the same time she was thinking,
can I do it? Can I fly?

“
Edna? Sweetheart?” He was waiting for her answer.

“
Of course. I’ll call the travel agent as soon as we hang up and call you back with the details.” Even as she said it, her spine tingled at the thought, but she would make herself get on the plane.

“
That’s great, Honey. I can’t wait to see you. I’ll tell you all about it when you get here, but you’re not going to believe what I’ve been through these last few days.”

Edna’s eyebrows went up as she gently put down the phone.

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Captain Glenn Browning, retired, of the Narragansett Police Department, for patiently answering my questions. Any liberties I’ve taken with police procedures were strictly for the story line.

I wish also to thank my first readers, Dianne Souza, Jim Coleman, Olivia Coleman, Lynne Duesenberg and Wes Cavanaugh, for their comments, corrections and insights.

My gratitude goes to Sandi Marsh for her work on my web site.

Sincere thanks and appreciation to friends and family for their continuous support and encouragement.

Last, but certainly not least, I am indebted to my critique group for sharing their expertise and advice, without which this story would not yet have surfaced.

Meet
Suzanne Young

Born and raised in Rhode Island, Suzanne Young has worked as a writer, an editor and a computer programmer since earning her degree in English from URI in Kingston.

Among her publishing credits is the first chapter in
Police Accountability
(Lexington Books, 1978), chronicling the evolution of police performance measures in the U.S.

A resident of Colorado for more than 30 years, Suzanne works full time in software development and writes fiction in her spare time.

A member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime, she is also a graduate of the Arvada (CO) Citizens Police Academy.

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