Euphoria Lane (10 page)

“How would you describe your relationship with your mother?” she asked.

“I’m afraid my answer won’t help my case.” Reverend Nichols continued to play with the burgundy bookmark. “Despite my religious indoctrination, I couldn’t stand my mother. She was a woman who insisted on controlling every aspect of her life. That included me.”

Okay. He liked the dog, not his mother.

“In what way was she controlling?”

“From the time I was born, she scheduled every moment of my day. The number of hours I studied, which sports I was allowed to play, the friends I could spend time with, even the girls I was allowed to date.”

Norman Bates had a nicer mother.
Her mind wandered down a dark path.
What if he was guilty? His mother had come between him and Helen. Did that push him over the edge?

“It was your mother’s choice for you to become a minister?” Andi concluded.

“No, it was mine. It was the first time I stood up to her. We argued for months. She wanted me to become a high-priced attorney.” He paused and gazed up at the cross. “I wanted to serve the Lord―not her.”

“I see.” She glanced down at her questions. “While we are on the subject of your career choice, I need to ask you about—”

“Helen.” Pain filled his tired eyes. “I made a mistake, Miss Stevenson. I knew her former boyfriend was upset over their breakup and might retaliate if I entered into a relationship with her. I chose to ignore that fact. As a result, he turned my own church against me. I should have put them first, and they reminded me of that every chance they got. I fell into a depression and decided it would be best if I left the church. A friend of mine offered me a job counseling teens.”

He sounded like a sad, intelligent, reasonable man, but when she scanned the room, she couldn’t help but wonder. She had never been inside the home of a spiritual leader before, but she doubted their personal surroundings usually contained more religious artifacts than most cathedrals.

Is he a zealot? Did he step off the sanity bus a long time ago?
Am I sitting alone with a killer? Maybe I should have brought Dad along. Why do I always think I can do things by myself?

Bernice had been killed with a yellow brick. She scanned the room for heavy objects. Statues stood in every corner, staring at her and making her feel uneasy.

Glancing down at her notebook, she tried to contain her overactive imagination. “I heard your mother broke up your relationship with Helen.”

His head jerked up. “How do you know that?”

“Rumor mill. Could Helen have killed Bernice?”

“She would never harm anyone. My mother was the monster, not her. Bernice yelled at Helen during one of the board meetings, accused her of ruining my reputation and soiling our family name. Even though my mother publicly humiliated her, Helen only walked away. She never said a mean word.”

Andi wanted to ask why he wouldn’t look at Helen when he drove by her condo every night, but decided it didn’t pertain to the case. She checked Jessie’s notes again. “When was the last time you saw your mother?”

“At the board meeting the night she died.”

“Was anyone upset with her that night?” She already knew the answer, but the question was on the list.

“Everyone who received a violation letter or fine that month.”

“So most of the people living in the complex?” she concluded.

“Correct.” His pressed his lips into a flat line.

That didn’t help narrow down the list of suspects. “Who was at this meeting?”

“I can get you a copy of the minutes from the board secretary. It won’t have every name, but it will list all the board members in attendance and anyone who pleaded their case. I remember that cowboy lost his temper. That’s nothing new.”

“It would save me time if you could try to remember which board members were there.”

He glanced about the room as if trying to jog his memory. “I believe Helen and Tess, the vet’s wife, were the only absent board members.”

“Do you know where they were that night?”

“Helen rarely attends meetings nowadays. She originally joined because I’ve been on the board for years.”

The woman stands outside her condo every day, waiting for him to drive by on his way home. Why would she stop attending the meetings?
Andi eyed him suspiciously.

“I asked her not to come,” he explained. “She agreed, as long as she could give me her proxies.”

“The neighbors think she gives her proxies to Harry.”

“The rumor mill isn’t always right.” He glanced at her notebook. “The other board member who didn’t show was Tess Owens, the vet’s wife. She wasn’t feeling well. Mother planned to check in on her after the meeting.”

“Did she?”

“According to Tess’s husband, Mother was there for about two minutes, but never actually went inside. She was afraid of catching her cold.” He shrugged as if it were common for his mother to avoid anyone who might be sick. “Harry saw Mother leaving the Owens’s place, but no one heard from her after she reached her own condo.”

“Where did you go after the meeting?”

“Here, to pray for the community. There’s so much anger.”

“You’re telling me.” Andi lifted her brows. “Did you see or speak to anyone else after the meeting?”

“I’m afraid not.” His words rang true, but they wouldn’t give him an alibi.

Andi glanced down at the last question on her notebook. She didn’t want to ask it, but Jessie had insisted. She faced the reverend, ready to read his body language. “Did you kill your mother?”

He didn’t even blink. “No. But I won’t miss her.”

“Thank you for your time.” She stood to leave.

He stood to walk her out. “When will you be speaking to Lenny?”

“Lenny? Oh yeah, Lenny.” She had to remind herself that as far as the reverend was concerned, she was working for the former owner. “Well, it’s hard to say. Could be today, tomorrow . . . He has his hands full right now. Not that he has too many clients. I mean, he has a lot of clients, but not so many that he can’t help you. Every client is important to Lenny.” If she wanted to help her sister, she was going to have to get better at bending the truth without rambling on and on.

“I understand,” the reverend answered. “When you do speak to him, please tell him I’m innocent. I didn’t like my mother, but I didn’t hate her either. Her death could very well have been retaliation for her work with the HOA. The real killer is out there, and Lenny needs to find him before he strikes again.”

“Do you spend your life looking for trouble, or does it just follow you around?” Luke asked Andi. He had spent the last ten minutes waiting outside of Reverend Nichols’s condo, hoping to prove the rumors that she was inside were not true.

Andi arched a brow as she shuffled down the path toward him. “I beg your pardon?”

“Is it true? Are you working for the detective agency looking into Bernice’s murder?”

“Not your business,” she stated as she looked both ways before crossing the street that wound through their private community.

He caught up to her and stopped her escape with a hand on her shoulder. “As someone who cares about you, I beg to differ. If you aren’t careful, you are going to have both Harry
and
a murderer chasing after you.”

She lifted his hand with one finger and dropped it off her shoulder like it was a smelly rag. “I already forgave you for dumping me in college. You don’t have to feel guilty anymore, so you can you stop acting like my father by trying to control my life choices. I’m a big girl.”

Am I acting like her father? Could I be protecting her now because I know I hurt her and am trying to make up for it somehow?
A pang of truth resonated from that last thought.

“Besides,” she continued. “I’m beginning to think Harry is the murderer. Once the police find the evidence, all our problems will be solved.”

He continued to follow her as she walked across the street and over the grass between two buildings. “What possible motive would Harry have for killing Bernice? They were of like mind. They both committed their lives to making sure everyone follows the rules.”

“Did you ever think Harry might be embezzling money from the association?” she tossed her accusation over her shoulder as she marched away. “He could have sent violation letters with directions to send the payment to a private PO Box. Greed has been a strong motive for murder since the beginning of time.”

“Someone would have caught him by now.”

“Bernice caught him. That’s why she’s dead.” She adjusted her grip on her tape recorder. “It’s just a theory. Don’t quote me, but you should keep your ears open.” She reached the pool fence and peeked through the gaps between the wooden slats.

He leaned close to the fence, too. The fountain sprayed water over a quiet, deserted pool. Each drop hit the glassy surface and created a tiny wave that spread away from the point of impact, then quickly died away. No Valerie. “Harry’s girlfriend must have canceled her aerobics class after receiving the violation letter.”

“I’m not surprised. She’s probably too angry to ‘right foot kick, take a sip’.”

“Getting back to Harry,” he said, pulling back from the fence. “I don’t think he killed Bernice.”

“I think you’re wrong.” Her deep eyes reflected both the light and her stubbornness.

“It’s more likely an angry resident killed her. She fined almost every unit at least once.”

“Or, Harry was embezzling money. Bernice found out, confronted him, and
whack
!” She pretended to hit herself on the head with an imaginary brick.

“Highly doubtful.”

“From your point of view.”

Harry couldn’t embezzle money without my discovering his subterfuge, could he?

Continuing down the path leading away from the pool, Luke followed Andi through the common area. From where they walked, he could see the back porches of over a half-dozen condos. They passed one gas grill and patio furniture set after another. Nearing the opposite end of the complex, he detected movement behind Harry’s condo and Barry Manilow music blaring through an open window.

Meg stood next to a tree, standing clear of the scene, watching Roxie aim a cell phone camera at Harry’s bedroom window. Two new recruits to the anti-board stood next to the adjacent building, keeping their distance. One was Dinah, a middle-aged caterer who considered herself the next Martha Stewart. She wore her red “Anti-Board” T-shirt over a pink dress spotted with black polka dots. The other recruit was her friend Carla, who was clearly more down to earth. She wore jeans with her tee. When Luke and Andi approached, they waved and ambled away. The only person brave—or foolish—enough to spy into Harry’s bedroom in front of the property manager was Roxie.

Meg waved Andi over. She pointed at Luke and then used her fingers to motion for him to walk away. He frowned, not willing to retreat and unleash mayhem on the community.

From inside the condo a woman squealed, “Harry, you behave yourself! You know I sleep only with my husband.”

“What’s going on?” Andi squinted to see what had captured everyone’s attention.

Meg grabbed hold of Andi’s arm and pulled her close. “Roxie has flipped. She is
so
mad.”

Luke was afraid to ask, but had to know. “What did Harry do now?”

“He rigged the irrigation system so that water hits our bedroom windows every hour on the hour throughout the night. I didn’t get more than two hours’ sleep. I doubt Roxie slept at all. She’s furious.” Meg gestured toward the window. “She’s recording them. Either Harry backs off or she’ll send pictures of him playing kissy-face with Valerie to her husband.”

Luke noticed the distance between Meg and Roxie. “I gather you don’t approve.”

“Oh, I approve,” Meg snorted. “Roxie doesn’t care if Harry catches her and calls the police. If I’m arrested, though, I’ll lose my job, so I’m staying back here.”

“Smart move,” Andi said. “I’m not going any closer either.”

Meg sent Luke an easy smile. “Harry’s breaking the excessive noise rule. Go get ’em, Mr. Property Manager.”

“Shh,” Roxie warned. “Don’t give us away.”

Luke watched Roxie snap another picture. He groaned.

Why didn’t I become a florist?

Determined to break up the scene, he strode across the grass to Roxie’s side. He couldn’t help but glance into Harry’s condo. The blinds were tilted, but not closed. From their close proximity, they could easily see into his bedroom.
Copacabana
provided the background music for the antics going on inside.

Harry pulled Valerie into his arms and kissed her full on the mouth. “Stop being a tease.”

Luke’s stomach churned with disgust. “Go home, Roxie.”

He felt like he was standing in the middle of a circus sideshow.

“
You
go home,” Roxie retorted. “I’m on a mission. It’s called getting revenge.”

Enough was enough. Luke marched up to Harry’s window and was about to knock on the glass pane when he spotted Paul, Valerie’s husband, leaning over Roxie’s shoulder.

“What’s going on?” the unsuspecting man asked. He had no clue his life was about to change dramatically.

Roxie shrugged as if apologizing and pointed toward Harry’s condo. “You might as well know the ugly truth, sonny.”

Luke followed the man’s gaze into the bedroom. Harry and Valerie were entwined in a passionate embrace and completely oblivious to the outside world.

Understanding flickered across Paul’s face, followed by shock. “Valerie?” His cheeks and neck grew red, then scarlet. “Val-er-ie!”

The world shifted into slow motion.

At the sound of Valerie’s husband screaming his wife’s name for the third time, Harry leaned away from her and stared out the window. His gaze locked on Andi first, then, recognizing Paul, his eyes grew wide with fear.

Valerie’s husband dove through the window, destroying the screen in the process. After recovering from the tumble, he grabbed Harry by the neck and shook him violently.

Valerie screamed.

Andi screamed.

Meg and Roxie screamed.

Luke sighed.

Harry’s head flopped back and forth as he tried to pry Paul’s hands off his neck.