Murdered in the Man Cave (A Riley Reed Cozy Mystery) (12 page)

"I would like to begin by saying that I
recently learned I have early stage Alzheimer's disease. It's
obviously a ravaging affliction for which there is no cure, so all
I can do is try to make the most of the time in which I am still
lucid and can care for myself. Please don't feel sorry for me, as
I've had a full life and have to let the chips fall where they
may.

"That said, I also have to be realistic and
prepare for the worst, which brings me to this moment in time. Now,
without further ado or droning on about how much I hate leaving you
behind or will be missed by family, friends, and fans, I will get
right to the point in expressing my wishes regarding divvying up my
estate..."

Like everyone else, I was stunned in watching
Brent reveal his affliction, while proud that he did so with such
courage and dignity. I waited with baited breath as I watched my
friend making his final curtain call as a bestselling novelist, and
seemingly enjoying his moment at center stage, to the extent that
one could in speaking from the grave.

"First of all, as a lifelong Spartan, I am
bequeathing one million dollars to my alma mater, Michigan State
University toward a scholarship in my name for creative writing
students. Now, moving on to my ex-wives... We certainly had our ups
and downs ladies, but there was a moment when we were on the same
page. And for that, I'm leaving each of you one hundred thousand
dollars. Spend it well."

I wasn't sure any of them were expecting
that, by their reactions, but they seemed pleased, all things
considered.

"On to my niece, Emily, we have not always
seen eye to eye on the direction your life has taken. I'm hopeful
that you will clean up what still needs to be cleaned up in your
act and get your life in order in memory of your mother, my dearest
sister. To that end, I am leaving you my mortgage free home and
most of its contents, along with my stocks, which when cashed in,
should bring you upwards of two hundred thousand dollars. I hope
you will use it toward education or furthering your pursuits in
life."

I watched as Emily put her hands to her mouth
with emotion that seemed to be a combination of gratefulness and
maybe even a little resentment for airing their dirty laundry to
some degree.

Brent continued, "To my longtime and loyal
housekeeper, Luisa, consider yourself employed for as long as Emily
lives in the house, with a twenty percent raise. Should she ever
decide to sell, you'll get a half a million dollars, so you'll
never have to work anywhere else. Aside from that, I'm leaving you
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to help make your life
easier, along with my Mercedes, so you no longer have to take the
bus to work."

"Thank you so much, Mr. London," Luisa
muttered, weeping openly as she stared at his face.

I knew how fond Brent was of his housekeeper
and was elated that he had expressed it in death, leaving no doubt
as to how much he appreciated her.

"Ivana, my darling," Brent said
sentimentally. "We haven't known each other very long, but then
again, it doesn't take long for two people to connect, does it? You
may be wondering why I would name you in my will at this stage of
our relationship. Well, all things considered, it seemed like the
smart thing to do for someone I've grown to care for. In case I
wasn't able to do this later, I wanted to leave you a little
something for what might have been, had we been given more
time..."

Ivana wiped tears from her eyes as Brent kept
her and the rest of us in suspense.

"Had we continued moving in the direction we
were, I think I would have eventually asked you to marry me.
Obviously, my current situation puts a damper on that. But,
assuming you would have said yes, and being a man of considerable
means, I leave you fifty thousand dollars to remember me by and to
make your life a little easier."

"Thank you, my darling," she cooed, and blew
him a kiss.

"Pierce," Brent continued, "I took you under
my wing as my research assistant, and watched you develop into a
fine writer in your own right. Thanks for putting up with me as
writer and making it seem like fun. I know you were always taken
with the seascape oil painting hanging over the fireplace in my man
cave. Well, it's yours, friend. I hope you find a nice place for it
at your home or office."

Pierce nodded. "Will do, Brent. Appreciate
the thought."

As I studied him, I couldn't help but wonder
if Pierce had been expecting more—perhaps money. I had no knowledge
of his financial state, but I assumed that since he had two
bestsellers under his belt, his head was at least above water.

I heard Brent start to speak to me and gave
him my undivided attention.

"I don't know where we went wrong in our
relationship, Riley, but I sure as hell know where we went right.
Thanks for giving me a shoulder to cry on from time to time. Since
I know you have always been one of my biggest fans, I leave you a
signed first edition of all my books in hardcover. If you've read
them all, read them again. I've always found novels better the
second time around. And if you find any errors, please keep them to
yourself."

I smiled, holding back tears, as I accepted
the gift, which I would forever treasure.

"Good bye to each one of you," Brent said,
"and thank you for the part you played in my life. Now get the hell
out of here and go live your own lives to the fullest, as I tried
to do."

The screen went blank and Brianna pointed the
remote at the television and turned it off.

"Thank you all for coming," she said. "Riley
and Pierce, you can get together with Luisa to set up a time to
pick up your items from the house. Or they can be delivered to you
wherever you wish. As to everyone else, once the will has gone
through probate and the criminal investigation is completed,
Brent's wishes will be honored."

I understood that last part pertained to
state law, whereby a murderer could not inherit from the deceased,
if found guilty of the person's murder. Looking around the room, I
wondered if anyone present could have been involved in Brent's
death. I dreaded to think so. At the same time, money was always a
motivation for killing someone, assuming Brent's murderer hadn't
ended his life for another reason.

"The Alzheimer's certainly took me by
surprise," Pierce said to me as everyone prepared to leave.

"I think that's true for all of us," I told
him, seeing no reason to admit that Brent had shared this with me
in confidence.

"I wish I had known. Maybe I could have
helped him with his writings or whatever."

"I think Brent preferred to keep it to
himself for as long as possible, having such pride in his ability
to do everything for himself."

"I suppose you're right." Pierce scratched
his check. "Can I give you a lift home?"

"Thanks, but I'm riding with Emily," I
responded.

"No problem. See you later."

"Are you going to Brent's house?" I asked
him, knowing that Emily had invited a few guests over in honor of
Brent.

"Yes, I plan to drop by for a few minutes,"
he said.

I smiled, thinking we might be able to talk a
bit more about the book club meeting. "Okay, then I'll see you
there."

He grinned and said, "By the way, that was
quite a gift Brent bequeathed to you. Those books will be quite
valuable someday."

"Maybe, but I don't think he gave them to me
for the money," I said. "Nor would I ever sell them."

Pierce appeared to be speechless, and I
watched as he slowly made his way out of the room. I approached
Emily, who was chatting with Ivana Croxley.

"Hey," I said to them.

"Ivana was just telling me that she and Uncle
Brent had planned to go to Hawaii next month," Emily said
sadly.

"Really?" I looked at Ivana.

"Yes, we were going to spend a week in Kauai
and one in Maui." Ivana's voice broke. "Now I wish we had just
taken off the moment we started talking about it. We could have
created lots of memories and maybe somehow this wouldn't have
happened."

I hated to rain on her pleasant thought, but
said candidly, "I wish that were true. But it seems like someone
was determined to kill Brent and would likely have pursued that
whenever the opportunity presented itself."

Ivana frowned. "Who would have wanted him
dead?"

"I've asked myself that very question
numerous times," I told her, "but no answer has surfaced thus far.
I guess we'll just have to wait and let the police do their
job."

"Meanwhile, the killer is still free to go
about their business," Ivana said.

"I know and it sucks!" Emily rolled her eyes
and then sucked in a deep breath. "I can't wait for this case to be
solved."

"Until then, all we can do is continue to
live our lives, as Brent would want us to do," I said, knowing it
was easier said than done.

"We should go now," Emily said to me.

I nodded.

She gazed at Ivana. "You're welcome to drop
by the house, if you want. People have brought food over and we're
just going to hang out."

Ivana ran a hand through her hair. "Thanks,
but it will just remind me of Brent and I can't handle that right
now. But we should stay in touch."

"I'd like that," Emily said.

I imagined that they might become friends,
even if Ivana had fallen short of becoming Emily's step aunt,
through no fault of her own.

* * *

During the drive to Brent's house, I thought
about his concern regarding Tony's influence on Emily. I wondered
if that might be put to the test even more now that she was about
to come into some serious money.

I decided to bring it up. "With your
inheritance, I hope you won't enable your friend Tony with his
gambling addiction."

"I won't," she said. "The last thing I want
to do is pour money down the drain with a gambler."

"I'm happy to hear that," I admitted. "And I
know Brent would feel the same way."

Emily nodded. "I want to make him proud, even
if I didn't get the job at Klackston Industries. I don't plan to
just sit around and do nothing. Maybe I'll go to school full-time
and find the right career."

"I think that's a great idea," I said, as
another thought popped in my head. "Speaking of ideas, Luisa
mentioned that she thought it would be nice if Brent's man cave was
redone as he might have envisioned. I don't know what your plans
are for the house, and Brent never told me the specifics of his
vision—"

"I
love
that idea," Emily said. "I
have no plans to sell the house. I intend to keep my uncle's memory
alive any way I can. As for his man cave, I have some thoughts on
what he might have wanted. We can discuss them later."

"I'd like that."

We approached Brent's house, which would now
seem so empty without him, even with guests present. I couldn't
help but notice his inquisitive neighbor. She was watering her
lawn, but looked up when she saw the car. We locked eyes, before
she quickly turned away.

"That was odd," I mumbled to myself.

"What?" Emily asked.

"Your neighbor. Seems like she has something
on her mind. Wonder what it is?"

Emily glanced at her. "Who knows? She's
probably just bored with her life."

"You're probably right," I said, even if I
had a feeling it was something more than boredom that had her
appear to take a special interest in us.

* * *

The gathering included Luisa, Pierce, Tony,
and a few of Emily's other friends. Apparently, none of Brent's
former wives were invited, or they just didn't bother to show up. I
figured that they had probably closed that chapter of their lives a
while ago, had it not been for the bequeathment.

I sipped lemonade and watched as Emily spoke
to Tony quietly in a corner of the rec room, where most of the
guests had assembled. Though in a way it seemed rather morbid to
hang out in the room where Brent breathed his last breath, I also
felt it was a good way to bring his man cave back to life.

"Wonder what they're talking about," Pierce
said, coming up beside me.

"Probably nothing much," I suggested, even if
I imagined it might be about Emily's newfound wealth.

"You know, Brent never thought much of him,"
Pierce commented.

"Yes, he made that clear to me," I had to
admit. "But Emily's a grown woman and I'm sure she's quite capable
of deciding who she wants to associate with."

"Perhaps you're right. Far be it for me to
meddle."

"I was thinking the same thing regarding
myself," I told him, deciding it was best to let Emily lead her own
life and wish her the best.

Pierce grabbed a pool stick off the table,
where Brent had once lay dead. "Do you play?" he asked.

"Not really. And if I did, I don't think it
would be very appropriate to do so now, under the
circumstances."

"I disagree. It's
exactly
why the
table should be used," Pierce said, taking aim at the white ball
and knocking it into the other balls. "Brent would be the first one
to say it's time for us to get back to living."

I could hardly argue the point, knowing Brent
as I did. Still, given that I had found him slumped over the pool
table, I decided to pass.

"I think I'll just circulate," I said.

He grinned. "Enjoy yourself—and I mean that
in the nicest way. That is why we're here, isn't it?"

I smiled. "Yes, I suppose it is."

At least that was usually the intention when
people got together after a funeral.

I intruded upon Emily and Tony's
conversation, which stopped abruptly when I approached them.

Emily smiled and noticed my empty glass.
"Would you like more lemonade? Luisa is around here somewhere."

"No thanks," I told her. "I just wanted to
let you know that I have some definite ideas for sprucing up
Brent's man cave. Whenever you want to discuss it, just call
me."