A Grid For Murder (21 page)

He glanced at the people in his hardware store. “If we don’t get another rush, I should be free in about fifteen minutes. You can wait in my office until then, if you’d like.”

I had no interest in staying there. What had once been a warm and inviting place now felt cold and detached from me. “No thanks. I’ll be outside.”

I walked out, and Myron said good-bye to me in the parking lot as I passed him. He was fumbling with his truck keys as he said, “Take it easy on him, Savannah. You might not know it, but this is a hard time for Robert.”

“Why’s that?” I asked as I stopped beside him.

“Two days ago was the anniversary of his wife’s death,” Myron said softly. “He always gets a little sad this time of year.”

“Did you know her?” I asked.

He nodded, and I saw a wistful look in his eyes. “Rebecca was a charming woman. She’s been missed by a great many folks over the years, I can tell you that.”

“Then you knew her well,” I said, pushing him.

“As a matter of fact, I did. Why do you ask?”

Maybe it would be easier getting the information from Myron than probing Rob about the circumstances of his wife’s death. “It might seem like an impertinent question, but trust me when I tell you that I have a reason to ask.”

As Myron stowed his goods in the back of his pickup truck, he asked, “What can I help you with?”

“How exactly did Becky die? I know it was accidental poisoning, but that’s all the information I have. I was going to ask Rob about it, but it might be too painful for him to discuss, especially given the time of year.”

Myron shivered a little. “It’s always been a source of distress for him. What was so sad was that it could have been so easily prevented.”

“What do you mean?”

Myron leaned against his pickup, and I could really see his age in his hands and his face, but most of all in his eyes. “Rebecca believed in everything natural long before it became a fad or a trend. She made her own soap, would always rather walk than drive, and did just about everything she could to leave a small footprint on the planet. One of the things she prided herself on was her herbal tea. She used to go to the Botanical Gardens in Asheville and pick out plants for her brews. While she never had any formal training, she’d become quite an accomplished botanist.”

I was starting to see where this was going. “Until one day she collected the wrong plant?”

Myron nodded. “She and a friend had been out gathering all day, and they made a tea with some leaves from the wrong plant. Her friend got sick, but Rebecca reacted more violently to the chemicals in the brew, and she died before they could do anything to help her.”

“It must have been horrible,” I said.

“It wasn’t pretty.” Myron scratched his chin, and then added, “It’s odd that you’d ask about Rebecca this week.”

“Because of the anniversary of her death?” I asked.

“No, because of what happened in Asheville. The friend she gathered plants with that awful day was Joanne Clayton.”

“Y
OU’RE NOT SERIOUS,” I SAID
.

“I wish I weren’t, but it’s true enough. Why, is that significant?” Myron looked honestly perplexed by my question.

“Joanne Clayton was poisoned as well,” I said.

“I didn’t hear that. Are you certain of your information?”

“I’m positive,” I said, having a hard time believing that there was still so much I didn’t know.

“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” he said. “I’ve known Robert his entire life. He isn’t capable of murder.”

“Not even to avenge his wife’s death?”

Myron frowned. “No one ever blamed Joanne, including Robert. He knew his wife’s nature. She could be a little
reckless at times. Besides,” Myron added after a moment’s consideration, “it’s not like Joanne didn’t get sick herself.”

“She didn’t die though, did she?”

Myron shrugged. “No, but it was touch and go for several days, and I know for a fact that Joanne was weakened for a good many weeks from drinking the tea herself. I believe in my heart that Robert accepted it as an accident.”

“How can you possibly know that with any certainty?”

“He told me so himself, just after it happened.” Myron seemed to chew on the new information, and then added, “Besides, if Robert was going to exact his revenge, he wouldn’t have waited so long to do it. If he suspected Joanne of murdering his wife, he would have shouted it from the rooftops, not waited patiently all these years to strike back. No, I’m sorry, but I could never believe it.”

“Believe what?” Rob asked from behind me. How had he managed to approach us so quietly?

“I didn’t hear you,” I said.

“Soft-soled shoes,” he said, pointing to his treads. “It’s the only way standing on concrete all day is tolerable for me. What are you two talking about?”

“The past, with all its glory and tragedy,” Myron said. As he got into his truck, he said, “If you two will excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

He drove away in a hurry, and Rob frowned at me. “You said something to spook him, Savannah. What were you two discussing?”

I had two options: I could lie to him, or I could tell him the truth and take my chances. It was broad daylight and there were dozens of folks out and about. I couldn’t imagine a safer place to confront him about what I’d learned, though I wouldn’t have minded having Zach standing right behind me.

“Rob, why didn’t you tell me that your wife was poisoned?”

He looked startled by my question. “I just assumed you already knew,” he said, clearly puzzled by my tone.

“We didn’t live here when it happened,” I said. “You know that.”

He shrugged. “Sometimes it feels as though you and your husband have lived in Parson’s Valley all your lives. I wasn’t trying to hide anything from you, Savannah. In fact, I’ve been sort of waiting for you to bring it up yourself. It’s a strange coincidence, isn’t it?”

“I know it must be painful for you, but I’d really like for you to tell me what happened,” I said.

His shoulders slumped slightly. “From the look on your face, Myron already did. Becky picked the wrong plant to make into tea, and it killed her.” His voice was cold and flat as he said it, as if he were reciting a poem he’d memorized back in grade school.

“Joanne was with her when she died,” I said. “You never mentioned that, either. Rob, surely you must realize that you had more reason to want her dead than anyone on our list! I’ve heard a rumor that you blamed Joanne for Becky’s death, but you haven’t said a word about it to me. I had to dig through the courthouse records to find out the truth.”

“Savannah, have you been investigating me?” he asked, the outrage thick in his voice.

“I’ve looked at everyone who had a motive for murder,” I said firmly. “Besides, I’m not about to let you blame your righteous indignation on me. I wouldn’t have had to go digging into your life myself in the first place if you’d just been honest with me from the start.”

“I don’t like your tone of voice, or what you’re
implying.” There was an edge there now, nothing soft and friendly about the way he was speaking to me. Perhaps I should have waited for Zach before I confronted Rob after all. “I didn’t blame Joanne for what happened to Becky then, and nothing’s changed my mind since. I had no reason to kill her.”

“But you can still prove that you were in your hardware store all day when she was murdered, right? At least tell me that much.”

He shook his head. “No, I was over at the Asheville Hardware Store picking up some supplies. I ran low on carriage bolts, and I have an arrangement with them there. They sell me whatever I need at cost, and I do the same for them. It’s a courtesy, really.”

This was beginning to look worse and worse for him. “Did you see Joanne while you were in town?”

“I did not,” he said flatly, “and frankly, I’m insulted that you could even ask me that.”

“I don’t blame you. They’re hard questions,” I agreed, “but they have to be answered.”

He shook his head. “Savannah, I thought you knew me better than this. I never expected you to accuse me of murder.”

“I’m not,” I said. “I’m just trying to get to the truth. Did Joanne ever write you any letters or notes?”

“Of course not. What kind of question is that?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” I said.

“You’d better make sure, before you come around here again accusing me of murder.”

As he started to walk away, I called out, “I’m still gathering facts.”

“Well,” he said as he stopped and turned to me, “you’re
going to have to do it without me from here on out. It should go without saying, but I’m finished helping you.”

After Rob was gone, I thought about what he’d said, and what he’d left unspoken. Would I feel different now if he’d told me from the beginning about how his wife had died? Could that have made a difference in my mind? I’d never know, because he’d held out on me, something that made me immediately suspicious of him. When I thought about enlisting him in my cause, it made my skin crawl a little. Had he really been trying to help me as he’d claimed, or had he volunteered to give me a hand so he could stay close, in case I stumbled onto the truth? What would he have done then? If Rob was the killer, I might have gotten a dose of poison myself.

I was still standing in the parking lot, and was so lost in my thoughts I nearly screamed when I heard my husband call out to me.

“Why are you so jumpy, Savannah?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I tried to collect my breath.

“I had a suspicion that you’d be over here.” Zach looked at me closely, and then added, “You look as though you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Or a killer,” I amended.

“What are you talking about?”

I brought him up to speed on what I’d discovered, and he nodded briefly as I talked. “That’s good work.”

“You didn’t know about how his wife died?” I asked.

“I never had a clue. I need to tell North as soon as I can.”

I suddenly felt bad about just blurting out what I’d discovered. “It doesn’t mean he killed her,” I said.

“It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, either, is it? North needs to talk to him herself and form her own opinions.”

He got out his telephone, but before he could call, I put a hand on his arm. “Hang on a second,” I said.

“What is it? Is there something else I need to know?”

“I just had a thought,” I said, spinning it out as I went along. “What if the killer knew Rob’s history with Joanne? Wouldn’t poison be the perfect way to divert suspicion from anyone else? The timing is too spot-on to be coincidental. It’s all just a little too neat, wouldn’t you say?”

“Sometimes murderers think they’re being clever when in actuality they’re begging to be caught.”

I still couldn’t see it. “Would he really poison her all these years later?”

“I’m not saying that he did it,” Zach said. “But the investigating officer needs to know about this. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.”

He finished dialing, and I heard him in deep conversation with Captain North. It seemed that Rob was going to be getting a visit in the next few minutes because of me, and if our friendship had been hurt before, I was certain this would kill it completely. I hated it, especially if he wasn’t guilty, but if it was collateral damage, there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

That didn’t make it go down any better, though.

After Zach finished his call, he said, “She’s coming here, and we’re going to question him together.”

“Zach, what if he didn’t do it?”

“Then he’ll have to get over it. Once he settles down, Rob will have to realize that this wasn’t personal.”

“That’s kind of the point, though, isn’t it? It doesn’t get much more personal than accusing someone of murder.”

He hugged me briefly, and then said, “Savannah, you know the risks connected with digging into a case. The fact that we live here just makes things that much harder. It’s a great deal simpler accusing someone that you don’t know of murder.” He paused, and then added, “Maybe this is the time to stop your investigation.”

“I’m in too deep already,” I said. “I’ll see it through, one way or another.”

C
APTAIN NORTH DROVE UP TWO MINUTES LATER. WHEN
she got out of the cruiser, she walked straight over to me. “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. If I’ve been a little hard on you in the past, you should know that I was just doing my job.”

“I don’t think Rob did it,” I blurted out. I couldn’t handle looking at Zach, afraid of what his reaction to my outburst might be.

“Nobody said that you did,” the state police captain said gently. “I’m not going in there accusing him of anything. It’s important that we get the facts before we leap to any conclusions.” She turned to Zach and said, “You can sit this one out, if you want to. I know you have to live in this town long after I’m gone.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to come in with you.”

“I owe you at least that much,” she said.

I waited out front as they went inside, wondering what I’d just done to Rob. If he was a murderer, which I highly doubted the more I thought about it, it was necessary, but if someone was using the circumstances of his wife’s
death to commit murder and blame it on him, I’d done him a huge disservice, one I was not certain he’d ever be able to forgive. Waiting was torture, but I wasn’t about to budge until they had finished speaking with him.