Creeps Suzette (11 page)

“Mmm,” Judith murmured, wondering if Caroline's talent was genuine. “Have you been published?”

“Oh, yes.” Caroline nodded several times. “I had a poem published just last month by a small press in Japan.”

“Japan?”

Caroline nodded some more. “It was haiku, and Uncle Tom translated it for me.”

It took Judith a moment to recall that Uncle Tom was Bev's husband. “That's wonderful,” she said as weariness suddenly overcame her like a big, dark cloud. “It's three
A
.
M
. I'm going to bed. Are you going to stay in the tower with your brother, Kenneth?”

Alarm enveloped Caroline, who began rocking back and forth in the armchair. “No! Kenneth can't be staying there. That's impossible.”

“Why?” Judith inquired in a reasonable tone. “I gathered he usually stays there. Aren't those your old rooms?”

“Yes, yes,” Caroline replied, nodding jerkily. “But they're haunted.”

“They are? By whom?”

Caroline bowed her head, the wild hair covering her face. “By Suzette,” she said in a barely audible voice. “I'll stay next door, between you and
Gran'mère
. I won't be frightened there.”

Before Judith could pose another question, Caroline flew out of the sitting room.

 

The wind had died down by morning, and the rain had almost stopped. When Judith woke up a few minutes after nine, she could see patches of blue sky to the west. She could also see Renie, still buried under the covers. Since her cousin rarely became fully alert before ten, Judith decided to perform her own morning ablutions first. Thus, when she emerged from the bathroom, she was surprised to see Renie sitting up in bed with her feet dangling above the floor.

“Duty calls,” Renie mumbled. “We have to check on Mrs. B.”

“I can do that while you dress,” Judith offered.

“Fine.” Staggering to her feet, Renie made her uncertain way into the bathroom.

Leota Burgess was breakfasting in bed. A gilt-edged tray laden with several covered dishes and a silver coffee pot rested on her lap. Nurse Fritz was nowhere in sight.

“I sent her off to get her own breakfast,” Mrs. Burgess said in answer to Judith's query. “I don't care for other people eating in my boudoir.”

“Should I leave?” Judith offered, rising from the chair in which she'd just sat down.

“No, certainly not,” Mrs. Burgess replied with a faint smile. “Just don't join me in my meal. Where's Serena?”

Judith explained that her cousin would be along soon. “I gather Nurse Fritz is something of a fixture at Creepers.”

“She has been,” Mrs. Burgess said with a glint in her eye. “She cared for my late husband during his final illness. Then she was with us when I had my gall bladder attack. I haven't seen her since. We asked for her when I sprained my ankle, but Fritz told Dr. Moss she was unavailable. I'm surprised that she showed up now.”

“Well.” Judith was at a momentary loss for words. “She must have a busy schedule.”

“I'm sure she does.” Mrs. Burgess spooned up some oatmeal.

“I really must ask you something,” Judith began in an earnest voice. “I mentioned it earlier, but the name Suzette keeps popping up. Last night Caroline refused to stay with Kenneth in the tower because—”

Mrs. Burgess dropped her spoon. “Caroline? Is Caroline here?”

Judith had forgotten that Mrs. Burgess might not have been informed of her granddaughter's arrival. “Yes, last night. Oh, dear—I'm sorry. I thought Nurse Fritz would've told you.”

“Indeed not,” Mrs. Burgess retorted. “Where
is
Carrie?”

Judith gestured in the direction of the next room. “Between our suite and yours.” She went on to explain about finding Caroline in the pool house.

Mrs. Burgess sighed. “Such a foolish girl. Carrie tends to show up at all hours. She has no concept of time. Or much else, for that matter. Would you see if she's awake? I'd like to speak with her.”

Temporarily diverted from the matter of Suzette, Judith could only smile and obey. Caroline's door was locked, however, and there was no response to repeated knocking. If, Judith reasoned, the intervening suite was set up in the same way as her own room and Mrs. Burgess's, Caroline probably couldn't hear anyone at the door if she was still asleep or in the shower.

Back in the corridor, Judith saw Renie coming her way. “I was trying to rouse Caroline,” Judith explained. “Mrs.
Burgess didn't know she was here. Hey, you left your eye patch off again.”

Renie gave her cousin a quirky little smile. “It's better, if you don't mind the fact that my eyes don't match.”

“You're right. The left one's still drooping. You look sort of stoned.”

“I feel sort of stoned,” Renie replied. “That was one short night's sleep.” She kept going down the hall.

“I thought you wanted to see Leota,” Judith called after her.

Renie didn't turn around. “I do. In time. Right now, I'm going outside to smoke.”

Shaking her head, Judith returned to the master suite. Mrs. Burgess was leafing through a copy of
Forbes
while Edna collected the breakfast tray.

“Leave the coffee pot and my cup,” Mrs. Burgess said without looking up.

Edna gave a single nod. Judith noted that the maid's eyes were red-rimmed and her hands shook.

“Let me help you,” Judith offered, catching a china cream pitcher just as it was about to fall off the tray. “I'll take these things to the elevator.”

“Oh, no, please, I can manage,” Edna protested.

But Judith was already behind the Chinese screen. “That's okay,” she said with a smile. “Maybe I can grab a piece of toast while I'm in the kitchen.”

“Oh! Yes, of course. Breakfast is laid out in the dining room, though. Perhaps you'd like to sit down and eat,” Edna said as the elevator doors opened.

“I'll wait for my cousin,” Judith said as the small car creaked and groaned on its descent. “Are the police still here?”

Edna turned her familiar shade of pink. “I hope not! Imagine! Police at Creepers! And people of color, at that. Dear me.”

“But Beverly's husband is Japanese, and Dr. Stevens is African-American,” Judith pointed out as the elevator came to rest.

“That's different,” Edna said. “Mr. Ohashi is seldom at Creepers, and Dr. Stevens is…only part Negro. I try to think of him as white. A dark white, of course.”

Following Edna into the kitchen, Judith placed the tray on the counter and greeted Ada Dietz. The cook looked surprised, and none too pleased.

“We don't need extra help,” she declared, giving the maid a sharp glance. “Despite the commotion, we're doing just fine. Aren't we, Edna?”

“Oh, yes, certainly,” Edna replied, her small hands fluttering over the front of her uniform. “We're fine as can be.”

As her stomach growled, Judith noted the gleaming four-slice toaster, but decided against making any unwelcome requests. “What a well-appointed kitchen,” she said in her most ingratiating manner. Gazing around the big high-ceilinged room with its work island in the center, she took in the latest appliances, including a commercial-sized grill next to an old-fashioned green and cream-colored range. It was, she thought, along with the matching counter tiles, the only holdover from another era. “I run a B&B, and I don't have a quarter of this space.”

“It's adequate,” Ada responded through tight lips.

Edna nodded enthusiastically. “My sister has everything she needs. Why, in the old days, when everyone was living here, we—”

“Edna!” Ada waved a wooden spoon at the maid. “How many times do I have to tell you not to be indiscreet?”

Edna hung her head. “I'm sorry, Ada. It's just that those were such—”

“Edna…” There was a stern warning in Ada's voice.

“I didn't realize you were sisters,” Judith broke in, still smiling. “How nice for the two of you to work together for so long.”

Ada turned her back and faced the stove; Edna seemed to shrivel up and began removing the dirty dishes from the gilt-edged tray; Judith stopped smiling and headed back for the elevator. If she got stuck between floors now, at least
someone would know where she was. They might not care, but they would know.

Renie was sitting with Mrs. Burgess when Judith returned to the master suite. She jumped in her chair when she saw Judith emerge from behind the Chinese screen.

“What is this?” Renie said, wide-eyed. “A secret passage?”

Judith explained about the back stairs and the elevator while Mrs. Burgess's shrewd gaze was fixed on her face. “I wondered about that when you left a few minutes ago,” the old lady said. “You seem to have gotten well-acquainted with the house.”

“It was a necessity last night,” Judith said, on the defensive. “As I just explained, I wanted to see what was going on in the pool house. That's how I found Caroline.”

Mrs. Burgess sipped coffee from her china cup. “Yes, of course. I'm having Jeepers drain the pool. He's not full-time staff, but he is one of our gardeners. We could have had another tragedy last night. I'm terribly sorry about Caroline's reaction. How's your head?”

Judith fingered the small swelling. “It's better, though I still have a headache.”

“Don't we all?” Mrs. Burgess sighed. “Please, go eat your breakfasts. Fritz will be back any minute. I'll see if she can find out if Caroline's awake.”

“Jeepers Creepers?” Renie said as they went out into the hall.

“It's no worse than that relative of your dad's, Mabel Frable,” Judith retorted. “Anyway, Jeepers Creepers isn't his real name.”

“I hope not,” Renie said as they descended the main staircase and saw the crime scene tape still in place. “By the way, I just got better acquainted with the house myself. I decided to see if I could find a way to smoke out on the second-floor balcony. Not only did I do that, I went into the other tower, to the south. There's a sewing room on the second floor and part of a ballroom on the first. The round part looks as if it's where the orchestra would play.”

“I wonder when they last held a ball here?” Judith mused as they circumvented the ominous black and yellow tape.

Renie shrugged. “Who knows? But from a design stand-point, I find the house intriguing. It gives me ideas.”

“It gives me ideas, too,” Judith said, “but not about art. I have to tell you about Caroline coming to our rooms last night.” She dragged her feet through the entry hall and down the corridor to the dining room as she related Caroline's story about her father's fatal accident and her own fears of the tower bedroom.

Before Renie could respond, they reached the dining room, where they found Peggy Hillman and a tall, attractive man in his fifties, both drinking Bloody Marys. Judith guessed that the man was Peggy's third husband, Russell, the golf pro.

She was right. Peggy introduced them and then sat back down at the long table and waited for the cousins to fill their plates. When they were seated, Peggy placed both hands flat on the linen cloth, as if she were about to make a speech.

“I really appreciate having you two come here,” she said, her husky voice sounding tense. “We all do, don't we, Russ?”

Russ nodded affably.

“But now that we've actually had a murder—even if it wasn't
Maman
, thank God—it's best that you leave. Since Dr. Moss was killed in this house, it's become a family matter.” Peggy paused and grimaced. “Do you think you can be out of here within the hour?”

T
HE COUSINS DIDN
'
T
argue. They merely exchanged surreptitious glances and continued eating. Given their apparent acquiescence, Peggy reverted to her more outgoing self.

“Tell them about the time Arnie and Jack played Sunset Cliffs, Russ. That's one of my favorite anecdotes.”

Dutifully, Russ Hillman went into a well-rehearsed if entertaining story of Palmer and Nicklaus's adventures on the local links. Russ struck Judith as a charming man who had a spent a lifetime living off the scraps of the elite. Indeed, he reminded her of a big, friendly dog trying to please his mistress. Judith half-expected to see him wag his tail.

At Peggy's urging, Russ had just launched into a tale about Greg Norman and Tiger Woods when Wayne and Dorothy Burgess arrived. Wayne and Peggy locked gazes; the sister nodded once at her brother.

“I think Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Flynn are very glad to be leaving,” Peggy said with a small laugh. “I'm sure they've had enough of us.”

“We're awfully sorry that your visit wasn't more pleasant,” Wayne remarked as he picked his way through the dishes on the sideboard. “Perhaps you can come back some time when things settle down.”

Judith thought he almost sounded sincere, though she knew better. “That would be lovely,” she said. “Maybe Bev and Tom will be back by then.”

“Don't count on it,” Dorothy said, lighting a cigarette. “Those two don't show up more than once every three years. Wouldn't you think they'd get sick of all that dust?” She blew out a cloud of smoke and flicked ash into a Limoges saucer.

Renie picked up the cue and lighted her own cigarette. Peggy, Russ and Wayne all looked startled. “Really,” Wayne began, “my wife is the only one who is allowed to—”

“Stick it,” Dorothy broke in. “What's one more butt around this place?” She glanced up as Kenneth came into the dining room. “Speaking of which…” She uttered a little laugh and eyed her nephew with something akin to contempt. “Well? You save any saber-toothed tigers this morning, Kenny?”

“Aunt Dorothy, please,” Kenneth began in a ragged voice. “Don't you feel a kinship with all creatures great and small?”

“Only the great ones,” Dorothy shot back. “The small ones don't count. Did you talk to your dear
Grandmaman
last night?”

“I didn't get a chance,” Kenneth answered defensively.

“Lay off, will you, Dot?” Peggy said in a testy tone. “Kenny's not the only one around here who asks favors from
Maman
. What about Howdy-Doody and his pathetic pizza parlor?”

“Bop's doing just fine,” Dorothy retorted. “At least he works. What about your Caroline and her lamebrained plan to start a women's writing center?”

“Hey,” snapped Peggy, “I thought you were all for that. Aren't you the one who thinks women should have their own careers?”

“That's not a career,” Dorothy countered, “that's a retreat, which is all Caroline's ever done—retreat from the real world. The last time I read something she wrote it was
about an ant crawling around on a paper towel.”

Wayne had gotten to his feet. “Peg, Dot—please. We have guests.
Please
.” He sat down again, but not before giving his wife and his sister a reproachful stare.

Judith finished her scrambled eggs and stood up. “Don't worry about us.” She nudged Renie under the table. “We're leaving. Thanks for everything.”

The cousins got as far as the door when they almost collided with Edwina Jefferson and Danny Wong.

“Hold it,” Edwina said, blocking their way. “We've got some questions for all of you.”

“Who let
you
in?” Dorothy demanded, angrily stubbing her cigarette out in the Limoges saucer.

“Some old coot who was about to keel over,” Edwina said in a vexed tone. “We're the law, remember?”

“I thought,” Wayne said in a stilted voice, “you finished your inquiries last night.”

Edwina poured herself a cup of coffee from the sideboard and sat down between Wayne and Kenneth. “Are you kidding, honey? We just got started.” She turned to her partner, tugging at his sleeve. “Take a load off, Junior. There's tea, too. Chop, chop.”

Danny, however, merely grinned, and sat by Judith and Renie, who had resumed their places at the table.

“Okay,” Edwina said, her shrewd brown eyes taking in each of the others, “we started with a homicide. Now we've got another crime.” She didn't skip a beat as everyone stared, including Wayne, who had clearly taken umbrage at being called honey. “I'm going to ask each of you where you were last night, and not just at the time of the murder but up until around five this morning,” Edwina said. “Let's start with some introductions. Danny and I haven't met all of you.”

As the family members identified themselves, Judith reasoned that neither the Wayne Burgesses nor the Hillmans had come to Creepers until morning. Or if they had, they'd arrived after the detectives had left.

“Let's start with you, honey,” Edwina said to Wayne
Burgess. “Last night from eleven o'clock, if you please.”

Wayne pursed his lips. “I prefer that you don't call me honey.”

Edwina cocked her head. “Is that right? Go on, honey, where were you?”

“What is this other so-called crime?” Wayne demanded, getting red in the face. “We have a right to know.”

“No, you don't,” Edwina said calmly. “Come on, honey, where were you?”

“Now see here—” Wayne began, wagging a finger at Edwina.

“Junior,” she said, turning to Danny Wong, “make a note that Mr. Wayne Burgess refuses to answer the question.”

“What?” Wayne exploded. “Of course I'll answer the question!”

Edwina sat back in the chair, arms folded across her plump bosom. “Go ahead.”

“I was home.” Wayne glared at Edwina. “All night.”

“Oh?” Edwina turned back to Danny. “Don't we have a couple of witnesses who said Mr. Burgess was at Creepers earlier in the evening?”

“Yes, we heard about that last night,” Danny replied with a quick glance at the cousins.

“I thought,” Wayne said stiffly, “that I was only to account for my time after eleven
P
.
M
.”

“True,” Edwina agreed. “We just don't want any blanket statements. Go on, honey.”

Wayne grimaced. “I told you. I was at home.”

“You live close by,” Edwina remarked. “A few minutes ago, you and your wife gave your address as Evergreen. Isn't that another one of these big estates in Sunset Cliffs?”

“That's correct,” Wayne replied.

Edwina gazed at Dorothy Burgess. “Will you confirm that, honey?”

Dorothy winced. “Yes. Of course.”

“You were there, too?” Edwina asked.

“Certainly. I didn't leave the house all day.”

Edwina turned from the Burgesses to the Hillmans. “You
were here earlier in the evening, too,” the detective said to Peggy.

“That's right,” Peggy replied. “I had dinner with
Maman
.”

Edwina smiled broadly. “
Maman
, huh? I like that. There's Creole blood in my family, and once in a while a French phrase slips in. Did you come back to the house later?”

“No.” Peggy paused. “Actually, I drove out to the highway. Russ was going to be late, so I thought I'd do some shopping over at the mall. They don't close until nine-thirty.”

“Your house is on the golf course?”

“Yes, not far from the chapel.”

“What time did you finally get home?”

Peggy considered. “Eleven, eleven-thirty?”

Edwina frowned. “It's not more than ten minutes from Sunset Cliffs to the mall. If the stores close at nine-thirty, what took you so long to get home?”

“I was hungry by then,” Peggy replied. “I stopped at Lenny's for a burger.
Maman
eats dinner early because of her TV programs.”

Edwina turned her gaze on Russ Hillman. “When did you get home, honey?”

Russ didn't seem to mind the informality. “It was late. I had dinner and drinks with some club members. Eleven or so, I guess. Maybe later.”

“Who got home first, you or your wife?” Edwina asked.

“Ah…” Russ gazed up at the crystal chandelier. “She did.”

“Thank you.” Edwina smiled at Kenneth. “I spoke with you last night. Where were you after Danny and I left Creepers?”

“Here,” Kenneth replied a bit nervously. “I went back to bed. I just came downstairs before you arrived.”

Edwina regarded Judith and Renie. “And you two?”

Renie answered first, relating how she'd dozed off on the settee in Mrs. Burgess's sitting room, and had been awak
ened by the arrival of Nurse Fritz. “After that, we went back to our rooms. I dozed off again and slept straight through.”

Judith, however, had a much longer tale. As she related how she'd encountered Caroline in the pool house, Peggy gasped in surprise.

“Carrie's here?” she said. “I'd no idea.”

At that moment, Caroline, looking dazed, appeared in the dining room. “Gosh,” she said, “this is quite a crowd. Hi, Mommy. Hi, everybody. What's going on?”

“These people,” Peggy said with a grimace, “are detectives. They—”

Before Peggy could get the words out, Caroline fainted.

As Kenyon was summoned to fetch smelling salts, Judith and Renie exchanged bemused glances. The butler was gone so long that Caroline came to before he got back.

“Do you want to lie down?” Peggy asked her daughter.

Caroline nodded. Wayne rose from the table. “I think we should adjourn this farce to the drawing room. Here, Carrie, I'll help you.”

Kenneth took his sister's other arm, leading the way down the hall, through the entryway and past the central staircase. Caroline took one look at the crime scene tape and fainted again.

“Good grief,” Renie muttered. “What is this? A nineteenth-century melodrama? When does the villain arrive, twirling his black mustache?”

“Maybe he—or she—already has,” Judith said under her breath as the cousins made way in the entry hall for Kenyon, who was finally bringing the smelling salts.

Renie leaned one hand on a small round rosewood table that stood against the wall separating the entry hall from the staircase area. “We might as well linger here while our swooning heroine is revived.” She fiddled with a bronze lamp featuring the figurines of two small children playing with a puppy. “How the heck do you turn this thing on, or is it just for decorative purposes?” She bent down and finally found the chain, which had gotten tangled up under
the pink tulip shade. “Lights on, lights out. Caroline faints, Caroline comes to. Can we really go home now?”

“Of course not,” Judith replied in an undertone as Peggy ministered to her daughter. “The cops won't let us. You know that, which is why I didn't argue. Hey,” she said suddenly, “why doesn't that light turn on?”

Renie had still been idly pulling the chain. “You're right.” She bent down to peer under the table. “Aha. My knowledge of things electrical has served me well. Lights don't turn on if they're not plugged in. This sucker isn't.”

By the staircase, Caroline was coughing and choking from the effects of the smelling salts. Her uncle and her brother again picked her up and all but carried her in the direction of the drawing room.

Judith was leaning down next to Renie, who was reaching for the plug. “Hold it,” Judith ordered, shoving her cousin's hand out of the way. “Is that dirt under here?” She stood up, pulling Renie with her. “Think this through. Why is that lamp unplugged? Is it usually left on at night to provide some light for the entry hall? Did the killer unplug it to make the hall completely dark? Or is it the weapon? What about these little bits of dirt? They look the same as the small clumps I saw by Dr. Moss's body.”

“Dirt's dirt,” Renie declared. “Why didn't the cops bag this lamp? They took away some of the other stuff, like that figure of Venus and the wrought-iron hat rack.”

As Judith studied the entry hall, Danny Wong appeared from the drawing room. “Excuse me, ladies,” he said in his soft, polite voice. “Would you mind joining us?”

“Take a look at this, Detective,” Judith said, then repeated the same questions she'd put to Renie. “What do you think?”

Danny rubbed his chin. “You may be right. I'll go tell Winnie.”

Winnie, Judith assumed, was Edwina's nickname. The cousins waited until the senior detective came out of the drawing room.

“Well, Mrs. Flynn,” she said after she'd examined the
lamp and the floor, “Joe's knack seems to have rubbed off on you.”

“I've had the opportunity to help him on a couple of cases,” Judith said modestly. She didn't add that she'd solved a lot more on her own.

“I'll get Junior to take care of this right away,” Edwina said, then put a hand on Judith's shoulder. “You're working your way up from honey, honey.”

In the drawing room, Caroline had collected herself and then accounted for her whereabouts during the night. Edwina nodded after Danny summarized the young woman's statement.

“Good,” Edwina said. “We'll talk to the servants now. You folks can go off and do whatever folks like you do. By the way, after we interview Mrs. Burgess, I'd like to talk to…” She took the notebook from Danny and flipped through the pages. “Bop, is it?” She looked at Wayne. “He's your son, isn't he, honey? Please let him know we want to see him here within the hour.”

Wayne's eyes narrowed at Edwina. “Before I call my son or head for my office in town, I want to hear about this other so-called crime. You said earlier you'd tell us.”

“I will,” Edwina replied in an amiable tone. “Some time last night, Dr. Moss's home was entered. His office was rifled, his safe had been opened, and it appears that some of his records and papers were stolen. It's possible that the thief was the same person who murdered him.”