Framed For Murder (An Anna Nolan Mystery) (24 page)

“Good night, Anna.
Sleep well,” Tremaine said, his eyes tired. I hesitated, not sure how I felt about him. Would I have done any differently in his shoes?

“Come on, Mom,” Ben said from the parking lot.
I met Tremaine’s eyes, nodded, and followed my son to the car.

As we headed for home, I began questioning him.
“So, what happened, Ben? What did he ask you?”

“The same old crap about my alibi.
Where were you? What time did you leave the house? Who did you see on the way to the theatre? All the stuff he asked me before.”

“Did Tremaine say he checked your alibi with the witness at the drugstore?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” I said.
“Maybe if you had been cooperative with him right from the start, you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble.”

Ben turned to glare at me.
“It’s all a bunch of bullshit, Mom. The whole idea that I killed Dad is just so stupid.”

“I know,” I said, reaching for his hand.

“I wouldn’t have given Dad the time of day, much less killed him.”

Exasperated, I put my hand back on the steering wheel.
“Tremaine told you about the witness who came in this afternoon, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s plain crazy.
I wasn’t there. It wasn’t my car. Whoever that witness was, she was lying.”

“So why do you think someone would have lied about you to the police?” I asked, pulling into the driveway.

“How the hell do I know? I don’t even know who it was.”

“Don’t bite my head off, Ben.
I’m just trying to help,” I said as he jumped out of the car and slammed the door shut. He got Wendy out of the back seat and stomped up the driveway to the front door. By the time I got out of the car and followed them inside, Ben was already in the kitchen with his head in the fridge.

“I’m starving,” he said.

“I’ll put on the kettle,” I said. “Do you want a decaffeinated tea, or maybe a hot chocolate?”

“A hot chocolate,” he replied, pulling some leftover pizza out of the fridge.
I got out the hot chocolate mix and waited for the kettle to boil while Ben piled some pizza onto a plate. “You want any?” he asked, pointing to the almost empty box.

“No thanks.
I’m not hungry.” As a matter of fact, I couldn’t have eaten a bite. I had just made up my mind to tell Ben about my lie to Jack, and I was scared. Maybe if I gave him a reason not to hate his father, his attitude would change and he would stop walking around with a big chip on his shoulder. His anger wasn’t helping Tremaine to see him in a good light.

Ben sat down at the table and started eating.
“What were you doing out in your pyjamas?” he asked, noticing my clothes for the first time.

“Huh?
Oh, I had to go over to Amy’s house unexpectedly, and then I heard about you and came straight to the station just as I was. Listen, Ben, there’s something important I want to talk to you about.”

“Yeah?
Well if it’s more about Tremaine and this alibi stuff, don’t bother. I’ve told him everything I know, and I’ve got nothing more to say.” He stuffed a wad of pizza in his mouth and chomped on it.

“No, Ben, it’s not about Tremaine or the investigation.
It’s something about your father and me – something I should have told you before.” The kettle whistled and I busied myself with making his hot chocolate.

“Yeah, what is it?”

I put his mug on the table and sat down across from him. “Okay, you know how I told you a couple of years ago that your father and I broke up because he cheated on me with another woman.”

“Yeah?”

“I told you that it wasn’t the first time – right?”

“Right.
I think you said Dad started cheating on you before I was born.”

“Uh huh.”
I wrapped my hands around the mug to warm them. “Okay, well, the first time it happened was the year before you were born. I was only twenty at the time. I was really upset when I found out about Jack. I wanted to get back at your father, so I told him that I was having an affair, too.”

Ben put the last slice of pizza back down on his plate and stared at me.
“Were you?” he asked.

“No.”

He swallowed a sip of hot chocolate before speaking again.
“Let me get this straight, Mom. You told Dad that you had an affair just to get back at him.” He picked absent-mindedly at a piece of mushroom on his pizza.

“That’s right.
Can you understand that?”

Ben shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess so, you being upset and all. Besides, he cheated on you, and a lie isn’t as bad as cheating.”

“Maybe not, Ben.
But maybe it affected your father in ways that I hadn’t considered.

Ben abandoned the food on his plate and leaned back in his chair.
“Like what?”

I took a deep breath.
“I got pregnant right after your father and I got back together, Ben. It’s possible that he might have thought you weren’t his.”

Ben stiffened, staring at me.
“I don’t get it. Why would he have thought that? You didn’t tell him that, did you?”

“No, Ben, of course not.
And I’m not saying that your father thought you weren’t his. If he did, he never said anything about it to me. I didn’t even think of it until I had a talk with Erna. She’s the one who saw the possibility and thought I should tell you because it might make a difference.”

“How?”

I lay my hand on his arm. “Don’t you see, Ben? It might explain why your father ignored you so much.”

Ben’s face looked deeply troubled as he lowered his eyes to think.
I kept quiet, holding onto his arm, willing him to understand my reasons for doing what I had done. He frowned and looked up at me. “Why are you telling me this? What am I supposed to do with this now?” He got up from his chair and started pacing.

“I thought it might help you to forgive your father, Ben.”

“How can I? He’s dead now. I can’t ask him, can I? How can I know what the truth is? Why didn’t you tell me before it was too late?” he shouted.

I got up from my chair and went to him, my eyes pricking with tears.
“Because I didn’t think of it, Ben. I’m so sorry.” I took hold of his hand, but he wouldn’t look at me. “Please forgive me for being so stupid.”

“You’re right, you were stupid,” he said, wrenching his hand away.
“All the time I thought he didn’t love me, it might have been because you lied to get back at him. Well, what about me? He might have been a lousy husband, but he was the only dad I had.”

Tears began to spill down my cheeks, and I dashed them away.
“Please, Ben, imagine how I felt at the time. I was so hurt and upset. I never imagined that you might suffer because of it.”

His own eyes were teary now and his face was white.
“I’ve got to go for a walk. I can’t be with you right now.”

He stalked out of the kitchen with Wendy slinking after him.
I heard the front door slam, and Wendy whined. I burst into tears and grabbed hold of the counter. It was all too much. Everything that had happened over the past two weeks came crashing down on my head. Jack’s death, trying to figure out if Amy, the Primos, or Jessie Wick had murdered him, and now my son’s anger. I sank onto the floor, sobbing. If only this whole thing would go away and I could have my old life back.

What if Ben wouldn’t forgive me?
What was I going to do? Wendy pushed her nose into my face and I grabbed hold of her, pulling her into my lap and clinging to her like a lifeline.

We sat like that for a long time.
Finally, I pushed myself up off the floor, stiff and cold. The kitchen wall clock said that it was 1:15 AM, but Ben still hadn’t come home. I let Wendy out to do her business while mechanically tidying up the kitchen, then shuffled down the hallway to the front door. I peeked outside in case Ben was sitting on the porch. He wasn’t. I closed the door, leaving it unlocked in case he didn’t have his key, turned on the outside light, and went to bed.

Chapter Twenty-One

I crawled out of bed around 9:30 the next morning and stumbled down the hallway to Ben’s room.
He wasn’t there and his bed hadn’t been slept in. I sank down on his bed, worried that something might have happened to him. I considered calling a couple of his friends who still lived in town, but decided that it was a bad idea. If he wasn’t there, his friends would wonder what had happened to him. If he was there, he wouldn’t want me checking up on him. Faced with a lose-lose scenario, I decided that I needed to get out of the house for awhile. I showered and let my hair air dry on the way over to The Diner. I didn’t want to be alone, and Ben might be there having breakfast.

There was no sign of Ben at the restaurant, but the Saturday breakfast gang was seated around a table at the back:
Betty and Jeff, Erna, May, Mr. Andrews, and Steve. My friends were talking with their heads bent over their plates. They all looked up as I dragged a chair over from another table to join them.

“Hi everybody.
Sorry I’m late,” I said, squeezing in between Steve and May. Everyone was having the weekend breakfast special except for Steve, who was having steak and eggs. This meal would be his supper. May reached over and took my hand.

“You doing okay, Anna?” she asked, looking concerned.
“Steve has been telling us about Ben being taken in for questioning.” I glanced around the table and saw the same worried expression on everyone’s face.

“I’m doing okay.
I brought Ben home with me last night. The police are going over his car this morning. He can pick it up at noon. He went out for a walk, and I didn’t feel like sitting home alone, so I came here.” I didn’t tell them that Ben had left for his walk about nine hours ago.

“That’s right, doll,” May said, putting an arm around my shoulders and giving me a hug.
“You stay here with us. You shouldn’t be alone right now.” Everyone started chattering at once, assuring me that things would turn out just fine and not to worry. Mary came over to take my order and Judy paused with a pot of coffee to squeeze my shoulder. I smiled up at her and patted her hand before she hurried away. I asked Betty and Jeff how their vacation plans were going to visit their daughter in Vancouver, and conversation resumed. Now I could have a quiet talk with Steve.

“What’s going on with the test results from the O’Cleary ranch?” I whispered.

He finished chewing a forkful of potatoes before answering. “They put a rush on the blood test. It was easy since we already had a sample from your ex. It was his blood in the lounge alright, Anna.”

I was silent as this information sunk in.
“Okay,” I said, “so now we know where Jack was killed.”

Steve nodded.
“We won’t get the other test results back for a few days, so we’ll just have to hang tight. One good thing I can tell you, though. The forensics guy said he didn’t think there was any blood in Ben’s car.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding.
At last, some good news. Mary came back with my breakfast, and I waited while she set my food down before me. The moment she left, I leaned toward Steve. “Who’s the witness who saw Ben’s car, Steve?”

He looked at me, and then bit into a piece of toast.
“I’ve already said more than I should, Anna. I can’t tell you that. It’s illegal.”

I shook my head.
“I don’t care if it’s illegal or not, Steve. Tell me. You know I’ll never tell anyone else.” He looked down at his plate, still chewing his food. I took hold of his arm. “Please Steve?” He paused for a moment without looking at me before cutting another piece of steak.

I watched him fork the meat into his mouth before sinking back into my chair.
I felt totally adrift. Steve had been so good to me throughout this whole ordeal, but I had gone too far, and now he wouldn’t help me anymore. I looked at my own plate of food and lost it. My breath caught in my throat, and I started to cry.

May turned to me in alarm.
“What is it, doll?” she asked. She put an arm around my shoulders and I started to sob. I couldn’t help it. After a moment, I felt a hand on my arm and looked up. Erna stood beside me with a purse-sized package of tissues.

“Thanks, Erna,” I gulped, pulling two or three out of the package and blowing my nose.
As I dried my tears, I realized that the whole room had gone silent. I glanced at the people at the next table and saw that they were staring. They noticed me looking at them and turned away, talking quietly amongst themselves again.

I had never been so embarrassed before.
I jumped out of my chair. “Got to go,” I said, fumbling under the table for my purse.

“Anna, are you alright?” Erna asked, her hand on my back.

I nodded. “Fine, fine.” I opened my wallet and threw a twenty on top of the table, my face feeling hot and sticky.

“Please stay with us, dear,” Erna said.