Digging Up The Dirt

“I presume whoever killed Mrs. Turnipseed was left-handed?” An’gel said.

“Yes,” Kanesha replied, “and I figured the chances were that only one of these ladies was a lefty. Now you tell me two of them are.”

“At least that eliminates Barbie Gross,” Dickce said. “I’m glad. I really like her.”

“My vote is for Reba,” An’gel said. “After all, she knew Mrs. Turnipseed rather well. She told us so herself. If Mrs. Turnipseed trusted the person who killed her, who was that more likely to be? Reba, I think.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Dickce said.

“I agree,” Kanesha said. “But we don’t know for sure that Mrs. Turnipseed was working with someone she might consider a friend. I suspect she was being paid by someone. She was living well beyond the means of a retired housekeeper.”

“How do you know that?” Coriander asked. “Surely you haven’t access to her bank account so quickly.”

“No, I don’t,” Kanesha replied. “I’ll just say that we found plenty of things at her house that were way too expensive. She had a lot of antique furniture for one thing, antiques that looked like better quality than what she might have inherited from her own family. I knew of them. They weren’t people who could afford such things.”

“Some of them came from Ashton Hall,” Hadley explained. “My brother left her most of the furnishings from my mother’s bedroom and sitting room.”

“That would account for most of them,” Kanesha said. “It still doesn’t explain the rest. Your mother didn’t have an early seventeenth-century oak coffer, did she? Or an oak settle from roughly the same period?”

Hadley shook his head. “No, she didn’t. We didn’t have them anywhere in the house, unless they were purchased after I left. Frankly, though, I can’t see my brother buying them. They would have been too old. He didn’t care for anything before Regency.”

“I see,” Kanesha said. She glanced at An’gel and Dickce, obviously aware of their curiosity. “I watch shows about antiques when I’m off, and I’ve learned to recognize different periods and styles.” She smiled briefly. “My one hobby.”

“So you think Mrs. Turnipseed was blackmailing someone?” Dickce said.

“Yes, I believe so,” Kanesha replied.

An’gel said, “I know Lottie’s husband left her quite well off. Reba, on the other hand, has always seemed to be strapped for cash.”

“Maybe because Mrs. Turnipseed has been blackmailing her for years,” Dickce said. “They certainly used to have money, at least as long as her husband was alive. After he died, I thought she spent most of her money on keeping Martin happy with gadgets and cars.”

“Do you think my brother murdered his wife?” Hadley asked.

Kanesha shrugged. “Hard to say at this point. Frankly, I have to assume he did, unless someone else confesses to it. The fact that he didn’t report her dead or missing is suspicious. We have very little to go on in her case, unfortunately.”

“I see.” Hadley closed his eyes for a moment. Coriander laid her hand on his and squeezed it.

“I think it’s likely that either Reba or Lottie killed Callie,” An’gel said. “And I’m betting that Mrs. Turnipseed saw it happen, or else saw enough to figure it out. Then she blackmailed the killer.”

“And when Hadley came back, either Reba or Lottie was so determined to have him, she went after the women who showed open interest in him.” Dickce went on to explain about Sarinda’s reaction to Hadley at the garden club board meeting and the fact that Hadley had been seen in town with Arliss.

“I feel so bad about that,” Hadley said. “Arliss wasn’t trying to seduce me, at least not that I could tell. She told me she was planning her first trip to London and wanted me to tell her about all the things she should see and where she should stay.”

Coriander exchanged an amused glance with An’gel, as if to say, He’s still naive when it comes to women’s motives for anything.

“That’s as may be,” An’gel said. “The result was, however, that Arliss got run off the road and is now fighting for her life.”

“I have some news on that,” Kanesha said. “I know you’ll be happy to hear she’s improving, and the doctor is more hopeful that she’ll be able to recover. Perhaps not completely, but better than expected.”

“That is wonderful news,” Dickce said.

“Thank the Lord,” Hadley said. “I feel responsible for her being in the shape she is.”

“Nonsense,” An’gel said. “The person who ran her off the road is responsible, not you.”

“I agree, dear,” Coriander said. “You aren’t at fault for the actions of a lunatic.”

Hadley didn’t look convinced, but he would have to wrestle with his feelings of guilt, An’gel knew. In his place she would probably feel the same.

“How are you going to figure out which one of them is responsible?” Coriander asked.

Before Kanesha could respond, An’gel said, “I have an idea that might help get this over with quickly.”

Kanesha looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “And what is that idea, Miss An’gel?”