A Lethal Legacy (26 page)

"My wife and I
decided we would move into the house with Claire after adding an addition for
our new baby."

"What did Kristina
think of that?"

"She hated the
idea; she thought Claire should sell the house. I could tell she just wanted to
get her hands on the money, and she thought I was going to have too much
control over Claire by living in the same house."

 "It would seem
like you were moving in on her territory," Detective Larson said.

"Please,
Detective, that's an opinion-laden comment. Let's stick to the facts," Tim
said.

"All right,
then. What about Pam? Do you think she had a motive for calling Claire after
the Phillip's funeral?"

"I think it's
like Kristina told me. She hoped that when the money became available to
Kristina, it would also become available to her."

"I don't
understand the hold that Pam thought she had over everyone. Why didn't Kristina
just cut her loose? Why did Philip allow the manipulation over a little groping
in the garage unless there was something bigger you're not telling me?"
Detective Winston looked at me steadily.

"I'm trying to
tell you everything I know, Detective."

As difficult as the
detectives made it at times, I continued my story. I explained that after
Claire broke her hip, I was grateful when Kristina called to say she was coming
for a visit. I remained hopeful that she might help me make decisions regarding
Claire's life.

"You still
believed that after all she had done?" Winston asked.

"I did. It might
be hard to imagine, but remember, I've known her all her life. I know there's
some good in there. It's buried very deeply, but it's there. Pam's influence
really can't be discounted here, you know."

"Is there
anything else you can think of Mr. Townsend?" Larson asked.

"No, I think
I've told you everything I know."

"Then I think
we're done here for the night, don't you, Winston?"

"We'll be in
touch. You know the line, 'stay in town?' Remember it, Townsend," Winston said
as he opened the door of the conference room, releasing me for the night.

"Thanks, Tim. It
was easier with you there," I told my lawyer and friend as soon as we made
it outside the police station.

"Anytime, Ed,
you know that. I know it wasn't easy. Here's some other advice you probably
don't need. Stay away from Kristina."

"OK, good night,
Tim." We shook hands in the parking lot before getting into our vehicles
and driving away.

I looked at my watch
and saw that it was just after seven. I could still meet Pam and Oscar and
perhaps get some answers to my questions.

I saw Pam waiting in
the lobby with a distinguished looking gentleman wearing a yellow golf sweater
and gray slacks. He stood to greet me when I approached.

"Ed, we thought
maybe you wouldn't come after all," Pam said.

"I've been at
the police station. They had quite a few questions for me."

"This is my
husband Oscar Timmons. Honey, this is Ed."

We shook hands and
took stock of one another. Oscar looked nothing like the creep I had imagined.

"They had quite
a few questions for me as well. I tried to be as honest as possible," Pam
said.

"Me, too. Let's
get a table, shall we?"

"Is your wife
joining us?" Oscar asked.

"No, I don't
think so. She's probably had enough of me for one day." They both looked
at me. "Kristina tried for a family reunion of sorts that backfired."

Once we were seated
at the table, I wasn't sure why I had agreed to meet them. I should have been
home trying to talk with Cassie.

"Ed, I know you
haven't approved of some of the things I've done in regards to Kristina and her
inheritance," Pam said. "But I hope you'll give me a chance to
explain."

"I'm
listening," I said.

"I know that I
wasn't a very good mother in the beginning when I was still married to Gary. I
drank far too much, probably still do, but once I went out to Vegas by myself
with Kris, I really tried hard to do the best I could. I even started having
some of those motherly feelings when I realized that this little kid only had
me in the world to depend on. Then I started working in one of the clubs
dealing black jack."

"You didn't
strip?"

"Are you
kidding? No, but I would let a few of the girls at the club watch over Kristina
while she slept, and I worked. Why do you think I stripped?"

"Kristina told
me you did that until you couldn't any more."

"One thing you
need to realize is my daughter lies. And she does it quite well. Whatever seeds
I had sown in the beginning of her life, soon grew and no matter how much I
tried to make up for things as she grew up, something must have stuck from her
earliest days. I admit that back then I couldn't stand to look at her."

"So you dealt
cards? Is that where you met Oscar?" I asked.

"Yes, Oscar
owned the club, and we fell in love. He even liked Kristina, which most of the
guys had found difficult whenever I had tried dating before."

"He liked
Kristina?"

"Yes, I
did," Oscar answered. "No matter what Kris might have told you, I
thought the world of that little girl. She was about seven when I married Pam,
but she never let me get too close to her. I think she thought I was going to
take away her mommy. It only got worse after our son was born."

"You didn't beat
her?"

"We've heard all
these accusations before, Ed. But, no, we didn't beat her; I didn't rape her
when she was twelve; we didn't send her out into prostitution when she was
fourteen," Oscar said. "When Kris turned fourteen, we began a round
of nightmare experiences with the police and truancy officers and social
workers."

"I was so
desperate that I begged her to visit her father," Pam said.

"She knew about
Gary from you?"

"Of course. I
know I told you once that I told her he was dead, but that wasn't true. I was
always honest about that."

"And then when
she was about seventeen, she tried to seduce me," Oscar said. "She
made sure she was kissing me when Pam walked in the door. She told me it was
meant to be; she had always loved me; she could take care of me if I would just
run off with her; crazy stuff like that."

I felt the bottom
drop from under me. The very words Kristina had always used on me. Except this
man, Oscar Timmons, sitting before me, had more sense than to believe it.

"Ed, what's
wrong? Have you ever heard Kristina say anything like that?" Pam asked.

I just shook my head
and motioned for Oscar to continue.

"We threw her
out of the house. That was the last straw for both Pam and me. We couldn't
handle her, and we didn't want her around our son. We gave her enough money to
fly to New Orleans to visit Gary."

"What about all
the times you pushed Kristina to ask for money, for her inheritance?"

"I admit that I
did want the Townsends to recognize Kristina as their own. Even though it might
have been wrong, I hoped if Kristina felt like she belonged to this family,
then maybe she would get the other parts of her life together," Pam said.

"Why did you
come here last week?"

"I tried to tell
you, but you were so certain that I was the bad guy who had created this
monster, that you refused to listen. Kristina started asking lots of questions
about medications and was acting suspicious around the time she visited Claire
in September. I worried then that something might have happened, especially
when I heard about Claire's fall. I even called and tried to get Claire to move
here where I could watch her. I began to suspect that Kristina might be
plotting to get rid of her."

"That's when you
called Claire," I said.

"Right, but I
knew it was mistake. Claire was loyal to you, and I could tell right away that
I shouldn't have mentioned the fact that you weren't a real relative.

"Right after
Kristina left for Ocala this last time, they discovered that someone had broken
into the med cabinet at my job. I was convinced that Kristina had come here to
kill Claire."

"Have you told
the police all of this?"

"Yes, but I'm
not sure they believe me. I think they might still think I'm a suspect. I'm
sure that Kristina didn't try and change that perception when they spoke to
her."

"Right now it
seems they're focusing in on me. Did you know that Claire changed her will
after Kristina's last visit? I inherit everything."

"Why did Claire
change her will?" Oscar asked.

"I don't know,
but I think I know the person who does,” I said as I prepared to leave. “It was
nice to meet you Oscar. I'm sure we'll see one another again soon. Pam, I need
to see Kristina, and then I think I'll understand things a little better."

I pointed the car
toward Kristina's motel. I had no intention of staying away like Tim suggested.
I drove there deliberately and with no thought in my mind but to get some
answers to questions that had been plaguing me during the last few hours.

Kristina had killed
Claire. At least that is what I started to believe as I drove the car toward
the motel. The world began to lose its vagueness, and as I drove, my vision
began to focus.

 Now I knew she could
either pull me down with her, or I alone would stand accused if I didn't get
some answers pretty quickly.

Kristina, my lover
for the past seven years, threatened to take everything from me, and I
willingly allowed her to do what she had always done best.

"What the hell
are you doing here?" she said when she saw me standing outside her motel
room door.

"I wanted to
finish our discussion, Kristina."

"Get out of
here, you bastard," she said so quietly that I almost didn't hear her.

"You know,
Kristina, it would have been all yours if you had just waited. What was so
important about that money that you couldn't wait?"

"You couldn't
ever begin to understand. It wasn't the money," she said in a different,
sadder tone.

"What was it then?"

"It would have
meant that I was somebody. I could have bought you, too."

I shook my head.
"I would have eventually come to my senses."

"Maybe, but I
would have won."

"Won what? I
don't get it."

"No, you
wouldn't, would you, Eddie? You know we could still leave together. It's not
too late. I know the police are torn between their suspicions of the two of us
plus Pam. Did the mother or the daughter give her the drugs? Did he? Did they
do it together? It was simple to plant those seeds once I found out that the
will was changed. Claire had me fooled on my last visit, that's for sure."
She sat down on the bed and shook her head with a bemused smile crossing her
face.

"Kristina, what
happened when you visited last time? What happened that made her change the will?"
I needed to hear about the last piece of the puzzle.

She snorted in
derision as she looked up at me with haunted and sunken eyes, the eyes of an
old woman. I could no longer see her beauty nor could I see any resemblance to
Gary as I had before. She had become as ugly and worn as her dreams and
desires.

"I decided it
was time to come clean. I thought maybe she'd feel a little more sympathy for
me. I really thought it had worked. Claire was a good actress," she said
with a touch of admiration.

"Come clean
about what?" I asked, not sure that I wanted the answer now that I had
come so close.

"Come clean
about the whole thing. I even cried a whole lot, and she held me. I told her
about Oscar and Pam and their little jobs for me as I grew up. Then she cried.
It was a real Waltons' moment, Ed. You should have been there. But then of
course you would have been feeling me up and getting a hard on, so the moment
would have been lost."

"You disgust
me," I said as I turned to go.

"No, I don't,
Ed. The only reason you say things like that to me is because you know how
disgusting you are. You were ready to screw my brains out just a few hours ago
even though you had come here to accuse me of murdering Claire. Now that's
disgusting."

"So you told
Claire that you were a prostitute? That must have killed her. Why did you
lie?"

"What do you
mean lie? I told the truth, and she was shocked. Let's face it; the country
club life hadn't prepared her to hear anything like that about her
granddaughter. But that's not the part that really killed her, the part about
having a prostitute as her granddaughter." She looked at me for a long
time, and I held my breath.

"You better tell
me the rest of it, Kristina."

"You don't know,
do you? You never suspected?"