Murder and Salutations (Book 3 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (23 page)

“
We identified the body at
Whispering Oak,” he said

“
It was Bailey, wasn’t it?”
Why had I blurted it out? Sara Lynn’s prediction had spooked me,
but that didn’t mean I had to say it.

He frowned at me. “Now how in the world did
you know that, Jennifer?”

“
I didn’t,” I said as I
pointed to our sister. “But she did. Sara Lynn just told me she
knew that he died last night.”

As Bradford laid her gently on the couch in
back, he said, “You know I don’t give any credence to that kind of
thing.”

“
But she was right, wasn’t
she?”

He looked down at her. “It wasn’t that hard
a conclusion to jump to, given what’s been going on around here
lately.” Bradford knelt down beside Sara Lynn and said, “Sis, can
you hear me?”

Her eyelids fluttered, and she came fully
awake. “What happened?”

“
You fainted,” I said over
Bradford’s shoulder. “But you’re going to be fine.”

“
Then it’s true? He really
is dead?”

“
I’m afraid he is,” Bradford
said. “We’d haw known sooner, but there was a holdup with the
dental records.”

Sara Lynn started to get up, but Bradford
put a hand on her shoulder. “Just keep still and collect yours
breath before you try to stand.”

“
Nonsense,” she said. “I
don’t mind if you help me, but I won’t let you hold me down. Do you
understand me?”

He shrugged. “Whatever you say. Jennifer’s
going to take you home now. Where are your car keys?”

“
I will not be handled,” she
lashed out at him, “no matter how good your intentions are. I’m not
going anywhere. This is where I belong.”

“
You’ve lost it, woman. It’s
okay to show your emotions. Your husband just died.”

“
Don’t you think I know
that? I may never go back to that house. Every way I turn I’ll see
a memory of our lives together. What on earth makes you think I
want that? I’m staying right here, Bradford, and you’re going to
have to arrest me to get me to leave.”

I touched my brother’s shoulder lightly. “I
can stay here with her.”

“
You’ll do no such thing,”
Sara Lynn said. “You have a store of your own to take care of. I’m
warning you two right now, I won’t be coddled. I’ve got Chris and
Nancy. I’ll be fine.”

“
Suit yourself,” Bradford
said. “I just thought you should know as soon as
possible.”

Sara Lynn sat up, and beckoned for him to
join her. As he did, she kissed him on the cheek. “I know all you
do for me is out of love, but just being there for me is what I
need right now. I’ll call if I need you, okay?”

He looked at her steadily, then said, “Okay.
Sara Lynn, I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

“
He wasn’t the best husband
in the world—not nearly as good a one as I’d thought, evidently—but
I loved him more than I could imagine.” She caught my glance, and
though I didn’t mean to voice my disapproval for the callous way
she was handling her husband’s death, something must have shown on
my face.

“
You don’t approve of my
behavior, do you, Jennifer?”

I jerked my gaze to the floor. “It’s not up
to me to approve or disapprove,” I said.

“
You’re right, it’s not,”
she said with the same bite she’d used on our brother earlier. “If
I let myself accept what happened, I’m afraid of what I might do. I
have to deal with this, in my own time and my own way. All I ask is
that you support me through it.”

“
I would never dream of
doing anything else,” I said.

“
That’s fine, then. You both
have jobs to do, so I suggest you get back to them.”

Bradford and I started to walk out when Sara
Lynn called, “Bradford, I have one question for you now.”

“
Anything,” he
said.

“
Was it painful for
him?”

I looked at my sister and saw a crack in her
tough façade. I personally didn’t know how she was managing as well
as she was.

“
No. One blow to the back of
the head, with a shovel most likely. The coroner said it killed him
instantly.”

“
Then there’s that to take
comfort in,” Sara Lynn said.

“
There is that,” Bradford
agreed, and the two of us I walked out of the break
room.

“
I’m staying,” I said once
we were out of sight. “I don’t care what she says.”

“
Jennifer, the worst thing
in the world you can do right now is go against her wishes. You
heard her. She’ll call if she needs either one of us.”

“
We can’t just leave her
here,” I said, tears coming to my eyes unbidden.

“
We have to,” he said as he
walked me outside. “You don’t remember Fluff, do you?”

“
No, but I’ve heard you two
talk about her enough so I feel like I knew her, too. She was your
cat, wasn’t she?”

He shook his head. “He was Sara Lynn’s. He
just tolerated the rest of us. Just before you were born, Fluff ran
in front of a car. Poor thing didn’t stand a chance. It nearly
killed me, but Sara Lynn barely shed a tear. I thought she had a
soul made of ice, until I Found her outside two weeks later weeping
silently over Fluffs grave. It took her a long time to come to
grips with losing him, and until she did, she didn’t shed a tear
that I could see. Imagine how much worse this is going to be. The
fact that Bailey was cheating in her in the end doesn’t make it
easier. It just makes it worse.”

“
How’s that?” I
asked.

“
She wants to be mad at him,
and who in the world could blame her, but she can’t, because he’s
gone now and she’ll never get the chance to make up with him.
That’s a lot to ask anybody to bear, wouldn’t you say?”

“
I guess you’re right,” I
said. “I still wish there was something I could do.”

“
Until she asks for our
help, you’ll just do more harm than good if you try to interfere.
Are you going back to the card shop? I’d be happy to give you a
ride.”

“
No, thanks. I think I’ll
walk. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“
Okay, but if you need me,
I’m just a phone call away.”

After he was gone, I walked back to the card
shop. Poor Bailey. I hoped the coroner was right. He’d been a fool
to jeopardize his marriage with Sara Lynn for a fling with Eliza,
but that didn’t make him evil. He’d stuck by my sister in sickness
and in health, and as far as I knew, he’d only strayed once. It
didn’t justify what he’d done, but he hadn’t deserved to die for
the mistake. I found myself wondering if Bradford suspected Sara
Lynn at all in her husband’s death. After all, he and his lover had
both been murdered. What, other conclusion could Bradford reach?
Sara Lynn was one of the few people who knew Whispering Oak was
going to be empty last night as well. I didn’t care what Bradford
thought, though. I couldn’t imagine any circumstances that would
turn my sister into a murderer.

So if my theory was right, which was a
stretch—even I was willing to admit that—that meant the killer only
had one loose end to tie up.

Me.

Chapter 13

‘
Did Savannah find you?”
Lillian asked as I walked back into the card shop. “Jennifer,
what’s wrong?” My face must have given me away.

“
Bailey’s dead,” I said, not
meaning to just blurt it out. “It was his body they found in the
house.”

Lillian nodded. “Sara Lynn suspected as
much, but I told her she was being paranoid.” My aunt looked at me
sharply. “Your sister must be devastated. So why are you here?”

“
She didn’t want me,” I
said, letting myself cry. Honestly, sometimes I could be such a
girl.

“
There, there, it’s all
right,” Lillian said as she stroked my back. “It’s nothing against
you. Your sister always was one to stand strong. No doubt she threw
Bradford out, too.”

“
She did,” I admitted as I
pulled away and dabbed at my tears. “I can’t believe Bailey’s
dead.”

“
You can’t? I’ve been
slamming the man since I found out about his affair, and now I have
all of that bad karma to live with.” She patted my hand. “When your
sister needs you, she’ll let you know, and when that happens, drop
everything and go to her. That’s the best thing you can do for
her.”

“
That’s what Bradford said,”
I admitted. “But it’s hard. I don’t much feel like working
today.”

“
Jennifer, aren’t you
worried about your own safety?”

I shrugged. “So you’ve come to the same
conclusion w I have. I’m the last target standing.”

Lillian shivered. “What a wicked way to
phrase it.”

“
It is a little too vivid,
isn’t it?” I admitted.

“
So what do we
do?”

“
I’m more determined than
ever to find out who killed Bailey and Eliza,” I said. “I’ll never
believe the murders aren’t related.”

“
Neither will I,” she said.
“Did you have any luck earlier?”

“
Just in making half the
town mad at me.” I recounted what had happened with Addie, Kaye and
Luke.

“
My, you are leaving a wide
band of hostility in your wake, aren’t you? If one of them didn’t
want to see you come to harm before, they certainly do
now.”

“
It’s a gift, really,” I
said. I suddenly remembered putting Savannah off, so I grabbed the
phone. “I need to make a quick call,” I said.

“
Be my guest. It’s your
shop,” she said.

Savannah came on the line. “I’m so sorry
about Bailey. I just heard. Could I speak with your sister?”

It was tough admitting that I’d bailed on
her, but I really had no choice. Savannah was understanding though.
“Everybody deals with tragedy in their own way. When my grandfather
died, my grandmother wouldn’t cry for weeks. All she’d do was iron.
When she ran out of clothes and sheets, that woman ironed towels,
and even my daddy’s socks. She’ll come around. All she needs is
time.”

“
I wanted to apologize for
being so rude earlier. You had something to tell me.”

“
I’m not sure if it amounts
to all that much, now that I’ve had some time to think about it,”
Savannah said.

“
Why don’t you tell me, and
I can judge for myself?”

“
I suppose that’s the best
way to handle it, but I hate passing rumors along, especially when
they might not be true.”

“
Savannah, I can’t promise I
won’t tell Lillian, and Bradford if I have to, but I can say I
won’t breathe a word of it idly.”

“
I know you won’t. Now I’ve
made such a fuss about it you’ll be sure to think I’ve lost my
mind.”

I waited, and a few seconds later, she said,
“Okay, it’s not much, but here goes. Pete and I were looking for
our table at the banquet, and we saw someone take one of the letter
openers from our table. At first I thought it was just some petty
theft, but with what happened to Eliza, I’m beginning to wonder if
it was more than that.”

“
Who was it?” I
asked.

“
A fellow who comes into the
restaurant now and then. He’s not a member of the chamber, so it
kind of surprised me to see him there. Who knows? Maybe he walked
in off the street and wanted a souvenir. Though with his kind of
money, it would surprise me.”

“
Savannah, I’ve known you my
entire life, and I’ve never known you to beat around the bush like
this. Do you even know the man’s name?”

“
Of course I do,” she said
curtly. “There’s another reason I don’t want to say. It’s because
of that best friend of yours.”

“
Gail? What does she have to
do with this?” And then I knew. “You saw Reggie Bloom take the
letter opener, didn’t you?”

“
So you already know,” she
said.

“
Not until a second ago.
Thanks.”

“
Jennifer, be
careful.”

“
You know it,” I said as I
hung up.

“
Reggie Bloom?” Lillian
asked. “What’s he got to do with this?”

I held up a hand. “Give me a second.” I
started mulling over the possibilities that my new landlord’s son
could have been mixed up in the murder. I knew he’d looked familiar
when I’d met him at dinner, but I hadn’t been able to place him.
Had I seen him at the banquet myself and not realized it? Gail had
complained that she thought Reggie had been seeing another woman,
and on the dock Bailey had told me that he thought Eliza was
involved with someone else, too.

“
Okay, I may be nuts, but
listen to this.” I told Lillian what I was thinking, and she
followed my reasoning every step of the way.

“
Call your brother,” she
said. “He needs to know about this.”

“
Do you honestly think we
have enough to go to him?”

Lillian frowned. “Jennifer, Bradford can
question him, can’t he? What harm will that do?”

“
What if I’m wrong?” I said.
“Reggie’s going to hate me.”

“
But what if you’re right,”
Lillian replied. “You may be living on the grounds with a murderer.
If anything happens to you, and we didn’t tell Bradford, he’ll kill
me, so call your brother for my sake if not yours.”

I picked up the telephone and dialed
Bradford number. When he answered, I said, “Do you have s minute to
talk?”