Lemon Larceny (The Donut Mysteries) (15 page)

“Actually, it’s
more than just a token,” the attorney said.
 
“As far as I’ve been able to determine,
your aunt owned the house where she lived as well as several additional pieces
of property in the area.”

“Seriously?” I
asked, still having a hard time believing that I was my aunt’s sole heir.

“Seriously,” Adam
repeated.
 
As he glanced through the
document, he said, “The only requirement for you to inherit is that you must
outlive your aunt by three days.
 
After
that, it will all be yours.”

“What happens if
she doesn’t survive the next few days?” Momma asked him.

“Gee, thanks for
that,” I said.

“Don’t be so
touchy.
 
I’m just asking what kind
of contingency my sister set up.”
 
Then Momma turned to the attorney and said, “There
was
a contingency, wasn’t there?”

“As a matter of
fact, there was,” the attorney admitted a little reluctantly.

“May we hear it, please?”

The attorney
said, “Maybe it would be better to forget about that part of it for now.
 
After all, nothing is going to happen to
Suzanne in the next forty-eight hours.”

“But we have a
right to know what my sister’s wishes were, isn’t that correct?”

“That’s true
enough.”
 
The attorney took in a
deep breath, let it escape as a sigh, and then he began to speak again.
 
“Her instructions were quite clear.
 
She just added a codicil a few days ago
without telling me about it.
 
As a
matter of fact, I just found it ten minutes before you both walked through my
door.”

“That’s enough
stalling,” Momma said, and then she hesitated.
 
“I believe I understand your
reticence.
 
You’re named in the
codicil, aren’t you?”

He shrugged.
 
“I wouldn’t have stood for it, and Jean
knew it.
 
I suppose it was just her
way of saying thanks you for our friendship, but it’s highly inappropriate.”

“Do you get
everything if something happens to me in the next few days?” I asked.

“Hardly,” he
said.
 
“There are actually four
other beneficiaries.”

I had a sudden
sneaking suspicion I knew where this was going.
 
“Let me guess who made the list.
 
I’m betting that besides you, Greta Miles
is on it, along with Chief Kessler, Hank Caldwell, and Anna Albright.
 
How did I do?”
 
I needn’t have asked.
 
The expression on his face was answer
enough.
 
I’d gotten all four names
right.

“Did she share
this information with you before she passed away?” the attorney asked
earnestly.

“No.
 
It was just a lucky guess,” I said.

“One perhaps, but
all four of them?
 
I find that hard
to believe,” Adam said.

“Take from it
what you will.”
 

“Do the other
beneficiaries know about this last-minute addition?” Momma asked him.

“They do by
now.
 
I was instructed to deliver
letters to each of them before we spoke, and I did as I was told.”

That was that,
then.
 
I started to stand as I
asked, “Are we finished here?”
 
I
now had a target on my back, and I didn’t care much for sitting in one of the
potential killers’ sights.

“For today,” he
said as he and Momma stood as well.

“Thank you for
meeting with us,” I said.
 
“Let’s
go, Momma.”

Once we were out
on the sidewalk, my mother shook her head as she frowned.
 
“What could Jean have possibly been thinking
when she did that?”

“She was probably
just trying to help us,” I said.

“How, by giving
her suspects incentive to kill you in the next forty-eight hours?
 
This is insane.
 
She’s painted a target directly on your
back, Suzanne.”

“She was just
trying to make it easier on us,” I said, though the justification sounded
hollow even in my mind.

“All she’s done
is turn you into a potential victim,” Momma said.
 
“We both need to leave Maple Hollow, and
I mean right now.”

“You can go if
you want to, but I’m not going anywhere until we find Aunt Jean’s killer,” I
said.

Not for the first
time in her life, my mother looked at me as though I were crazy.
 
“Suzanne, this is serious.”

“So is murder,” I
reminded her.
 
“Don’t forget; I’ve
been a target before.”

“Never for five
suspects at the same time,” Momma protested.

“You’ve got a
point there, but it doesn’t matter if there were
fifty
names on that list.
 
Our job here is clear.
 
We
push forward until the murderer is caught.
 
You’re welcome to leave, if that’s what you really want to do.”

Momma shook her
head.
 
“I’m not going anywhere
without you.
 
If you won’t change
your mind, then I’m certainly not going to desert you.”

“Don’t
worry.
 
It will all work out in the
end.”

“I hope you’re
right,” Momma said.

“So do I,” I
answered with a smile.
 
At least my
aunt had done something to help us find her killer.
 
By naming them all as potential
beneficiaries, she managed to stir the pot like we never would have been able
to manage.

I just hoped that
I wasn’t the one next on the list of victims.

Chapter 14

“So, now that we
have an even stronger incentive to find the killer, what should we do?” Momma
asked me as we walked over to her car.

“There’s no
reason to do things any differently.
 
We need to stick to our plan,” I said firmly.
 
“After we speak with Anna Albright, then
we can compare notes and try to come up with a way to press our suspects even
harder.
 
The fighting is about to
get even messier.”

“This isn’t a
battle, Suzanne.”

“On the
contrary,” I said.
 
“That’s exactly
what it is.
 
Momma, we’re at war,
and the stakes just got higher.
 
There’s a time limit on us now.”

“Then by all
means, let’s go look for Jean’s neighbor and see what she has to say for
herself.”

“How are we going
to get her to even speak with us after our last conversation?” I asked.

“I’m afraid that
the real question is how are we going to get her to stop,” Momma said, and I
realized that she was probably right.
 
We hadn’t spent a lot of time with Anna so far, but I doubted that reticence
was one of her main character traits.

“Anna, do you
have a minute?” I asked Aunt Jean’s neighbor when she answered her front door.

“Of course,” she
said.
 
“Won’t you come in?
 
As a matter of fact, you just saved me a
trip.
 
I need to speak with your
mother.”

“I’m right here,”
Momma said, “and I’d be pleased to talk to you.”

“Please, won’t
you both come into my living room?
 
How
about some coffee, or perhaps some tea?
 
I’m afraid I don’t have any soft drinks that I can offer you, but I
could run to the store if there’s something you’d like in particular.”

“Nothing for us, but
thank you for your kind offer,” Momma said as we sat down on a flowery
overstuffed couch.
 
I felt myself
sinking as I hit it, and I wondered if I’d ever stop.
 
If Anna noticed my reaction, she didn’t show
it.

“Now, what brings
you two here to my humble abode?”

“It’s about my
aunt,” I said.

Before I could explain
any further, Anna said, “I understand why you’d like to discuss her with me,
being that we were so very close, but let me go first, may I?”

“I don’t see why
not,” I said.
 
When I glanced over
at Momma I saw that she was frowning, but it might just help our cause if we
let Anna get whatever it was off her mind so she could focus on talking to us
about my aunt.

Momma nodded when
Anna turned to us, and the neighbor took it happily as our agreement to listen
to what she had to say first.
 
In a
flood of words that were directed straight at my mother, she said, “There’s no
sense in beating around the bush.
 
I
want that house.
 
Jean promised to
sell it to me someday, and now that she’s gone, there’s no reason why I
shouldn’t be able to buy it from you.”

I started to say
something when Anna held up a hand.
 
“Please, just let me finish.
 
I’ve had the place unofficially appraised, and I’ve seen the property
taxes.
 
After speaking with a few
realtor friends, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s worth a little under two
hundred thousand dollars.”

Was she that
serious about buying Aunt Jean’s place?
 
“Anna—”

“I’m not
finished,” she said breathlessly as she interrupted me.
 
“Give me just one second.”

Anna left the
living room, and I turned to Momma and asked, “What exactly is going on here?”

“Isn’t it
clear?
 
We’re getting a high-pressure
sales pitch.
 
Why do I feel as
though she wants us to buy her condo in Florida?”

I was about to
comment when Anna came back into the room holding an envelope.
 
She handed it directly to my mother, who
asked rightly enough, “What’s this?”

“It’s a cashier’s
check for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, a good twenty percent over the
house’s fair market value.”

“I’m sorry, but I
can’t help you,” Momma said as she handed the unopened envelope back to Anna.

With firm lips, Anna
asked, “So, is that the way you’re going to play it?
 
Fine.
 
I might be able to go as high as three
hundred thousand dollars, but that’s as much as I can scrape together, and you
won’t get anywhere near that much from anyone else.”

“You
misunderstood me.
 
Anna, I’m not
haggling over the price,” Momma said.

“Then you agree
to my original offer of two hundred fifty thousand?” Anna asked, the excitement
clear in her voice.

“It’s not my
place.
 
I’m saying that the house
isn’t mine to sell in the first place,” Momma said.

Anna looked
crestfallen as she took the envelope back.
 
“Do you happen to know who is going to inherit it?” she asked.

“As a matter of
fact, I do,” I said, surprising myself with the declaration.

That certainly
got Anna’s attention.
 
“Of course, I
should have known.
 
I get it.
 
So, what do you say, Suzanne?
 
What do you think of my offer?
 
That money will buy a great many
donuts.”

“No doubt it
would, but I don’t buy them, I sell them, remember?” I asked a little frostily.

“You know what I
mean.
 
Will you take me up on my
offer?” she asked as the envelope headed my way this time.

“Anna, why are
you in such a rush?
 
The will hasn’t
even been read yet, let alone a transfer in ownership to me.
 
Is there something we don’t know about
my aunt’s house that apparently makes it worth more than everyone else thinks
it is?”

“No, it’s just
another residence to most folks, but not to me.
 
Do you want the truth?
 
Okay, I’ll tell you.
 
The fact is that I’ve wanted to live
there since I was a little girl, but it hasn’t been possible until
recently.
 
I inherited some stock
from my grandfather that I’d forgotten all about until a nice broker called me
and asked if I wanted to sell it.
 
When I found out how much I was going to make, I was astonished.”
 
She must have realized that she was
giving away too much information to someone she wanted to buy a house
from.
 
“It wasn’t a fortune in most
people’s eyes, but it was a lot of money to me.
 
So naturally, when I knew this house was
going to be available, I decided to get it for myself, if the price was within
reason, of course.
 
I know, it’s
silly of me to admit that to you, but I don’t care.
 
You seem like a nice woman.
 
I don’t think you’ll gouge me.
 
Think about it, Suzanne.
 
Wouldn’t you like someone living there
who loved the place as much as your aunt did?”

“I can sympathize
with how you feel, but I’m not in any position to sell my aunt’s house right
now.”

Anna looked
crestfallen yet again.
 
“How about
later, then?
 
Think about what I’m
offering you.
 
Besides, what would
you do with a house all the way in Maple Hollow?
 
It just makes sense to sell it while
you’ve got a willing buyer.”

“We’ll see.
 
I’ve heard your offer, and all I can
promise to do is to think about it,” I said.
 
“In the meantime, we’d like to speak to
you about my aunt.”