Classified as Murder (31 page)

“Yes, ma’am.” Sean smiled at her. “With food like this, I can’t help but do better. These are the most delicious biscuits I’ve ever put in my mouth.”

Azalea’s expression softened for a moment. “I just make’em the way my mama taught me when I was only a bitty girl.” She squared her shoulders. “Now I got plenty of laundry to be doing. I can’t stand around here talking or I ain’t gone get everything done.” She headed into the utility room.

Sean grinned at me. “She’s a trip. I hope she never quits.”

I finished chewing a mouthful of gravy-soaked biscuit. “It’s entirely up to her. I have no say in the matter.” I realized the dog wasn’t with Sean. “Where’s Dante?”

“Out in the backyard running around. I’ll let him in soon.”

“You didn’t let Diesel out with him, did you? I haven’t seen him since I got out of bed.”

Sean shook his head. “No, Dante’s on his own. I haven’t seen Diesel either.” He shrugged. “Maybe he’s with Stewart.”

Sean was probably right. Diesel had a knack for knowing when someone needed comfort, and he had probably gone up to the third floor to check on the new boarder, like a nurse with his patient.

I examined my son for a moment. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better.” Sean met my gaze with a smile full of affection. “I’m really glad we talked, Dad.”

“I am, too.” That was all I could say for a moment, around the sudden lump in my throat. When I could trust myself to speak without my voice wavering, I said, “I haven’t heard anything from the sheriff’s department to the contrary, so I’m assuming that it will be okay for us to go back to the Delacorte house to continue our work this morning.”

“That’s what I figured you’d say.” Sean frowned. “I’m not too keen on going back to that place, but I know you’re not going to give up on finishing the job.”

“No, I’m not, unless Kanesha tells me I’m done.” I had another forkful of biscuit and gravy.

Sean and I ate the rest of our meal in silence. On my way upstairs I met Diesel coming down. I paused midway, and he sat on a step at my eye level and regarded me with what I always thought of as his solemn expression.

“So where have you been?” I asked. “Were you looking after Stewart?”

He meowed twice, and I took that for agreement.

I continued up the stairs, and Diesel accompanied me. “I’m going to be leaving in a few minutes. If you want to go with me, you’d better be ready.”

I looked down as Diesel paused near the second-floor landing. He cocked his head to one side as if considering my words, and then he turned and trotted down the stairs.

I smiled as I went to brush my teeth.

Back in the kitchen about ten minutes later, I found Sean and Diesel ready to leave. Diesel wore his harness, and I thanked Sean for putting it on. Sean laughed and said, “He dragged it off the hook on the wall and brought it to me. That’s some smart cat.”

“Yes, he is,” I said as I rubbed said cat’s head with great affection. “Where’s Dante? Are you taking him with us today?”

“No, he’s going to stay here with Stewart.” Sean shrugged. “I talked to Stewart for a minute, and he seemed pretty down. When I asked if he’d mind looking after Dante today, he perked up a little. He really has taken a shine to Dante.”

I fastened the leash to Diesel’s harness. As I stood, I remarked, “Careful, or you may lose your dog.”

“To be honest, Dad, I don’t think I’d mind if Stewart wants to keep him. Dante is a sweet little guy, but dogs require a lot of attention. I just don’t know whether I want to deal with all that right now.”

“I can understand that.” I opened the back door, and Diesel preceded me and Sean into the garage. “But be absolutely certain that Stewart really wants him and will take good care of him. You owe it to Dante.”

“I know.” Sean smiled across the roof of the car at me as I opened the back door on the driver’s side for Diesel. “You don’t have to worry about that; I promise.” He opened his door and slid into the car.

“Whenever I start talking to you like I think you’re still twelve,” I said with an apologetic smile, “tell me to stop, okay? I didn’t mean to lecture you just now.”

Sean patted my arm as I backed the car out of the garage. “It’s okay, Dad. If you start to bug me, I’ll remind you how old I am. I know it’s hard to remember that kind of detail when you’re getting gaga.”

I had to laugh at that, and I marveled at how quickly our relationship had shifted back into more familiar territory. Sean sounded more and more like the son I knew before my wife became so ill, and I began to distance myself from him.

When we turned into the driveway at the Delacorte mansion, I spotted only two official cars parked there. One from the police department and the other from the sheriff’s department. I wondered if Kanesha was on hand this morning.

We found out a few minutes later after a policeman opened the door to us. Kanesha was talking to another deputy and another police officer in the doorway of the front parlor.

When she spotted us, Kanesha held up a hand, and Sean and I halted. Diesel sat by my feet. After a couple more minutes’ conversation with the other officers, Kanesha motioned for us to join her. She led us into the parlor while the cop and the deputy departed.

Kanesha didn’t waste any time with the niceties. “I’m sure you’ve heard what happened here last night.”

At my nod she continued. “I want you to finish the inventory as quickly as possible. I’ve spoken with the FBI office in Jackson, and they’re sending someone up later today to take over that part of the investigation.”

“We’ll do our best,” I said. “But I don’t think there’s any way we can finish by this afternoon.”

“Do what you can,” Kanesha said, her face impassive. “Once the FBI agent is here, I don’t know whether he’ll want you to continue. In my experience they don’t always work well with the locals.”

“Duly noted, Deputy,” Sean said. “Come on, Dad, let’s get to work.”

I nodded at Kanesha and then started to follow Sean out the door.

“One more thing,” Kanesha said. We turned back. “I spoke to the rare book dealer in New York about
Tamerlane
.”

“Did Mr. Delacorte buy a copy?” I asked when she stopped and didn’t continue right away.

“He did,” Kanesha said. “And if we can find it, I think we’ll find the murderer.”

“Do you think it’s still somewhere in this house?” Sean sounded incredulous. “Surely it’s long gone by now.”

“I don’t think so.” Kanesha leaned against the back of a heavy, overstuffed armchair. “Mr. Delacorte only brought it home with him last week. He flew to New York to pick it up and got back on Wednesday. That’s only a week ago. I don’t think there’s been time to do anything with it.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “It would take some time to find a buyer. Unless, of course, the thief already had one in mind.”

“The only member of the family who’s left town since Mr. Delacorte returned from New York is Stewart Delacorte.” Kanesha stood away from the chair. “He went to Memphis on Sunday to visit a friend. I’ve already talked to the Memphis police about the friend, and he’s clean. Runs a highly successful florist’s shop. I don’t really think he’s involved in the theft, or Stewart either.”

“Do you know who it is?” I asked.

“I’m pretty sure I do.” Kanesha looked smug. “But proving it will take some time. We’ve got to find that missing Poe book.”

“Can’t you search the house again?” Sean asked. “Get another warrant. Surely you have probable cause now.”

“Gosh, I never would have thought of that.” Kanesha didn’t try to tone down the sarcasm, and Sean flushed—whether in embarrassment or irritation, or both, I wasn’t sure.

“I’m working on it,” Kanesha said. “In the meantime, keep your eyes open. For all I know it could be hidden in the library. I have a gut feeling it’s in this house somewhere.”

“Come on, Sean.” I headed for the library with Sean and Diesel on my heels. Deputy Bates was back on guard duty in the library. He greeted us and unlocked the doors.

Sean turned on the lights while I released Diesel from his harness and put it aside. The cat stretched and yawned before he ambled off to the spot under the work table that he seemed to favor.

Sean strode over to the shelf we had been working on last night and turned to me. “I’m ready.”

“Right.” I handed him a pair of cotton gloves before I picked up the inventory book to find the place where we stopped. “Here we go.”

As we worked through the inventory, we found each book listed. Most were in the correct place on the shelf. Four were among those we found earlier and stored on the work table until we came to them in the list.

Only half my thoughts were engaged in the job at hand. The other half were devoted to the conversation with Kanesha. Her reminder that Stewart was the only family member to leave town after Mr. Delacorte brought the copy of
Tamerlane
home from New York rattled me. After becoming further acquainted with Stewart, I didn’t want to think of him as a thief. I had to wonder, however, whether Kanesha was overlooking the obvious because she was so convinced by her
gut feeling
. Stewart was bright enough to know the value of the stolen books, and with his connections in academia, he could surely find the contacts he needed to sell the books privately.

If the
Tamerlane
were still in the house, however, where could it be? The Poe hadn’t turned up during the search. I considered the possibility that the searchers overlooked it because the hiding place was clever. The more I thought about it, however, the more I believed that the
Tamerlane
wasn’t in the house. If the thief had an accomplice outside the house, the accomplice could have had it all along.

I read out the next title to Sean, a first edition of Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel,
The Age of Innocence
. As I recalled, Wharton was the first woman to win the prize for fiction. This was another favorite I would love to own, but I would have to be content with my facsimile edition.

While Sean checked the shelves for the Wharton, I thought again about the idea of an accomplice. In my mind there was only one candidate, Anita Milhaus. She was known to be having an affair with Hubert Morris, and Hubert seemed the obvious choice for the role of thief. I was convinced Eloise had found the missing inventory among his things. We would never know for sure, now that poor Eloise was dead.

I liked the idea of Anita as accomplice. My personal distaste for her might be coloring my thinking, but even so, I figured I could make a pretty good case against her. She was intelligent, I had to admit that, and more than capable of assisting Hubert in his thievery.

A memory surfaced, and I was so surprised I almost dropped the inventory book on my foot. The diamond bracelet Anita was sporting on Friday—I had forgotten that until now. What had she said? Something about her “gentleman friend” giving it to her. The bracelet looked very expensive to me. How much of the proceeds from the sale of the missing Faulkners had gone toward its purchase?

I needed to tell Kanesha about the bracelet because it could prove to be an important lead in the case. If she could trace its purchase, she might find evidence against Hubert. From everything I had heard, I doubted he ordinarily had that kind of money at his disposal.

I was about to suggest to Sean that we take a brief break, but a knock at the door forestalled me.

Deputy Bates opened the door and blocked entry into the room with his body. “Yes, ma’am, what can I do for you?”

“Good morning, Deputy. I’m Alexandra Pendergrast. My father and I represent the late Mr. Delacorte’s estate. I have Deputy Berry’s okay to enter the library.”

“Yes, ma’am. You’re on my list.” Bates stepped back, and Alexandra strode into the room. Today she wore a plum-colored suit with an ivory blouse, and the colors complemented her hair and complexion. She was a striking young woman, one I couldn’t help admire.

“Good morning, gentlemen.” Alexandra stopped a couple of feet in front of me. Diesel left his nap spot under the work table and came to greet her. He warbled at her, and she stared down at him with an odd expression. “He won’t bite, will he?”

From behind me Sean snorted loudly. “He’s not going to
bite
you. Give the cat some credit for good taste.” He came to stand beside me.

Alexandra flushed, and I shook my head at Sean. He was being rude for no good reason that I could see, except his self-professed antipathy to women lawyers. He would have to stop viewing them as surrogates for the unpleasant and predatory Lorelei.

“How would I know that he doesn’t bite?” Alexandra’s eyes flashed fire at Sean. “I’ve never been around cats much, and this one is big enough to be a dog. For all I know he eats small children for breakfast.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sean guffawed. “Even
you
couldn’t really believe that.”